New Mexico lawmakers plan push for AI regulation ahead of January legislative session - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A handful of New Mexico lawmakers described their plans for the upcoming legislative session during a summit Monday focused on artificial intelligence, which states increasingly find themselves trying to regulate amid a permissive federal environment.
New Mexico Reps. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) and Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe) moderated a panel conversation in Albuquerque, featuring a national expert with the National Conference of State Legislatures and a state lawmaker from Virginia.
They all described a difficult and changing landscape for states that seek to, for example, crack down on discriminatory algorithms; prevent chatbots from sparking inappropriate relationships with children; or require artificial intelligence companies or their clients to disclose more with the public about their use of the technology.
The Virginia lawmaker, Michelle Lopes Maldonado, said her efforts at “comprehensive” AI reform at her statehouse failed due to there being “just too much gap between comfort levels, understanding, etc, to be able to move forward with more.”
One challenge she and other state lawmakers have faced is in defining “artificial intelligence” in legislation, she said.
“I don’t believe that any of the states have a definition for AI. There really isn’t one quite sufficient yet, because the technology is growing so rapidly,” she said.
In the meantime, she recommended New Mexico lawmakers use a definition for “AI system” that the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, an international organization of 38 developed economies, has developed.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 38 states adopted 100 pieces of AI-related legislation in 2025. But Chelsea Canada, who advises states on AI regulations for the organization, said Monday that few states have adopted comprehensive legislation that tackles consumer protection or data privacy concerns. And, in some cases, governors have vetoed those bills, she said.
Instead of more ambitious proposals, states have increasingly focused more on “narrow” protections, like the 10 states that adopted AI regulations governing the healthcare industry in 2025, Canada said.
Chandler told Source New Mexico after the panel that she intends to reintroduce a pared-down version of House Bill 60 during the upcoming legislative session. That bill, which died in the House, contained 15 different sections aimed at “developers and deployers” of AI, including transparency and anti-discrimination requirements.
“That was a big algorithm bill, and the forces were out and about to try to squash that,” she said, adding later that she was referring to “Big Tech.” During the next legislative session she said she intends to focus more narrowly on transparency measures, including ensuring users know when they’re communicating with AI chatbots.
“At a minimum, people need to be reminded that they’re interacting — especially young people — with a machine and not a human,” she said.
Looming over any state-level AI regulation is the possibility that the federal government will ban states from imposing rules on companies or their clients. President Donald Trump recently drafted an executive order that would punish states that enact their own AI regulations.
“I’ve been told that [AI companies] are continuing to push” Trump to prohibit states from regulating AI, Chandler said. “And the President is very amenable.”
AFR: Man injured in NE ABQ explosion dies; fire was 'deliberately set' - R.C. Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
A fire that killed a 60-year-old man in northeast Albuquerque last week was set deliberately, Albuquerque Fire Rescue spokesperson Lt. Jason Fejer said in a news release on Monday.
In an email, Fejer said he had not heard anything about any suspects or "any other agencies investigating."
Sometime on the night of Nov. 23, New Mexico Gas Company received a call of a strong odor of gas in the 1000 block of Walker NE. As a technician was assessing the property, Fejer said, a nearby home "exploded, resulting in extensive structural damage" at around 10:30 p.m.
Firefighters responded and found Michael Nissen, who was removed and taken to University of New Mexico Hospital. He was later airlifted to a burn center in Arizona, UNMH spokesperson Chris Ramirez said.
Nissen died from his injuries, Fejer said.
"During fire suppression and scene examination, investigators documented multiple interior gas line that have been intentionally altered, along with a message written on an interior wall," Fejer said.
It is unclear what the message said.
"Based on these observations and collected evidence, investigators determined that the incident was deliberately set and classified this as incendiary," he said. "However, due to the extent of the damage and the absence of witnesses, the specific ignition source and intent remains undetermined."
The explosion also damaged a neighbor's home and left piles of debris all around.
Fejer said the New Mexico Gas Company detected no leaks and readings surrounding the involved property were negative.
Sweatshirt-gate? In Albuquerque, photos of homeless residents in pro-Keller clothing sparks intrigue - Dan Boyd and Gillian Barkhurst, Albuquerque Journal
In the final run-up to Albuquerque's mayoral runoff election, photos of homeless people wearing yellow sweatshirts have become an unlikely political flashpoint.
Incumbent Mayor Tim Keller's campaign on Sunday accused his challenger Darren White's supporters of being behind the sweatshirts that feature the phrase "I ♥ Tim Keller" emblazoned on the front.
In a social media post, Keller's campaign said using unhoused people as political props is "disgraceful" and called on White to condemn the incident.
White's campaign manager on Monday denied the campaign's involvement in the incident, which was first spotlighted by a blog affiliated with the Rio Grande Foundation, a Libertarian-leaning think tank.
The sweatshirts first popped up on Albuquerque's streets Wednesday, according to several people wearing them.
By Monday, the bright yellow sweatshirts dotted East Central, with dozens of people wearing the sweatshirts to protect against the biting cold. For some, the yellow hoodie was their only protection from the wind chill that day.
"It sucks (expletive)," said Nikki Rankin, as a bead of snot dripped from her nose. "But I took it because I had nothing."
Despite the text, which she saw as a "publicity stunt," Rankin said she accepted the hoodie because she had lost other clothes in a city encampment sweep last week and was unable to get anything out of storage over the holidays.
Other people living on the streets said that the sweatshirts were passed out in front of a local smoke shop on East Central, though no one recognized the people who had done so. Rankin also said she didn't recognize who had passed out the sweatshirts, or why they did it — but she had a hunch.
"They only did it for publicity, to screw the other guy over," Rankin said of the sweatshirt hanging from her thin frame.
But who is trying to sabotage who is unclear, with both campaigns denying involvement and no group yet claiming responsibility.
The photos that would begin the political controversy were originally sent to Paul Gessing, the president of the Rio Grande Foundation. On Monday, Gessing said he believes the person who sent him the photos also distributed the sweatshirts.
He said he could not disclose the person's identity, but said he believes the intent behind the sweatshirts is to draw public attention to Keller's handling of homelessness-related issues.
Albuquerque real estate executive Doug Peterson, who has clashed with Keller's administration and provided office space for White's campaign, said Monday he did not distribute the yellow sweatshirts and does not know who did.
Homelessness has emerged as a key issue in this year's mayoral race in Albuquerque, amid a recent increase in Albuquerque's unhoused population.
Keller and White have sparred over the subject during recent televised debates, with the mayor saying White's plan to remove all homeless encampments could be a "mass casualty event" if enacted during winter.
He also said he would continue his administration's efforts to improve addiction and housing services if reelected to a third four-year term as mayor.
For his part, White has repeatedly criticized Keller's handling of Albuquerque's homeless population, which increased to nearly 3,000 individuals earlier this year, according to a point-in-time count.
Specifically, White said during a recent KOAT-TV/KKOB/Journal debate that Keller had let homeless individuals "do whatever the hell they want" while negatively impacting local businesses and families.
Meanwhile, the New Mexico Republican Party on Monday accused Keller's campaign of being behind the sweatshirt distribution scheme, despite the mayor's condemnation of the plot.
"Using the homeless as political pawns is a new low for Tim Keller and shows just how tone-deaf he is," said state GOP chairwoman Amy Barela. "This stunt is not only a slap in the face to all of the homeless people in Albuquerque, but to every voter who wants to live in a city where homelessness, crime, and drugs are not out of control."
In response, Keller's campaign accused the state Republican Party of spreading a "baseless allegation" and said Keller supporters were the first to report the sweatshirts.
In a KRQE-TV debate Monday evening, moderators asked the candidates face-to-face who was behind the stunt. Both denied involvement for a second time.
"Listen, there is somebody, obviously, a citizen, that is so frustrated with your policies, Mayor, that they used this as a means to express their frustrations," White said.
Keller, in turn, described the sweatshirts as a predatory political ploy and called on White to condemn whoever is behind them.
Despite the political maelstrom, on Albuquerque's streets many of the people who wore the sweatshirts Monday had only one thought about the garment — it kept them a little bit warmer.
Concern simmers in Estancia Basin over water trucked to SunZia wind farms - Santa Fe New Mexican
In the Estancia Valley, residents are concerned about local groundwater being trucked away to serve the massive SunZia Wind and Transmission project, which is still under construction.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that in East Mountain communities like Edgewood, there’s growing concern about the Estancia Basin, which is the underground water table in the Valley.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that construction on the SunZia project got underway in 2023 and is about 75% complete. The 3.5 gigawatt-wind-farm part of the project, composed for more than 900 wind turbines, is being built in Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel counties.
The development also includes an electrical transmission line starting at Corona, in Lincoln County, to an Arizona substation, near Casa Grande. SunZia is estimated to cost $11 billion.
Records show tens of millions of gallons of groundwater in the Estancia Basin likely are being tapped for the project. Water rights transfer databases on the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer’s website show several transfers in the last couple of years, around the time construction began on SunZia, explicitly aimed at boosting water resources for the project.
The Estancia Basin — where much of the water is used for agriculture, according to state reports from past years — stretches from Moriarty in the north down to Willard, south of Estancia. In this dry region, groundwater is the primary source of water. The State Engineer’s Office has closed the basin to new appropriations and implemented stricter guidelines for permitted water rights.
Hundreds of wind turbines are under construction near Corona and Vaughn, two small and windswept towns southeast of Edgewood in Central New Mexico, as a part of the SunZia project.
Price tag of Albuquerque's runoff election reigniting ranked-choice voting debate - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
With early voting underway in the race to decide who will be Albuquerque's next mayor, the cost of the city’s runoff election is generating renewed scrutiny.
Bernalillo County election officials have projected it will cost $1.6 million to administer this year's runoff election, which includes the mayoral showdown between incumbent Tim Keller and challenger Darren White, along with two city council races.
That cost, along with other factors, has prompted some advocates to urge Albuquerque to follow the lead of other New Mexico cities in adopting ranked-choice voting.
"This is not a new concept," said Cesar Marquez, a senior organizer with Common Cause New Mexico, which has joined with other groups to push for ranked-choice voting in Albuquerque. "It's already being done by Santa Fe and Las Cruces for a few election cycles now."
Santa Fe, which first used ranked-choice voting in 2018, used the system to elect Michael Garcia as the city's next mayor last month in a race that featured eight candidates.
Las Cruces also utilizes ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to list their candidates by order of preference when casting a ballot. A winner is determined by "instant runoff" on election night as a computer tallies voters' rankings over as many rounds as necessary.
In Albuquerque, a 2024 push to amend Albuquerque's city charter by implementing ranked-choice voting failed to win City Council approval, but backers say they plan to try again.
The outcomes of the two city council runoff elections could be pivotal in determining the short-term fate of ranked-choice voting, Marquez said. That's because candidates Teresa Garcia and Stephanie Telles both support changing the city's voting system.
However, supporters might have to win over critics who say ranked-choice voting isn't without its flaws.
"Ranked-choice voting violates one person, one vote," said City Councilor Dan Lewis, who won reelection last month. "It's unfair, complicated and untrusted. As long as I'm on the council, I'll ensure it never happens."
Albuquerque is not the only New Mexico city that uses a runoff election to decide local races in which no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, as Gallup also uses a top-two runoff system.
Meanwhile, the $1.6 million estimate for this year's Albuquerque runoff election is due to costs associated with voting machines and staffing 17 early voting sites and 50 voting sites on Election Day, said Nathan Jaramillo, the Bernalillo County Bureau of Elections administrator.
The cost of holding a runoff election is one of the main arguments that supporters of ranked-choice voting are using, as that money could be better spent on other programs, Marquez said.
As of Monday afternoon, a total of 20,963 voters in Albuquerque had cast a ballot for the runoff election via absentee or early voting, according to Bernalillo County Clerk's Office data. That figure represents about 5.7% of the city's more than 365,000 registered voters.
Registered Democrats made up more than half of the voters who have already cast a ballot, with Republicans representing 28% and independents — or those who decline to state a party affiliation — making up most of the remaining voters.
While voters will decide the outcomes of several key races, one issue that won't appear on the ballot for the runoff election is a ballot question that was inadvertently omitted from the Nov. 4 election ballot.
That ballot question, which deals with a requirement in the city charter that voters must approve a performing arts center before the city can appropriate funds for such a project, will instead be placed on the 2026 ballot, said Albuquerque City Clerk Ethan Watson.
He said the decision to postpone the ballot question was made due to provisions in state law that precluded it from being placed on the runoff election ballot.
Early voting will run through Saturday, with Election Day set for Dec. 9.