Telles elected to ABQ City Council; District 3 race too close to call – Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuquerque Journal
The runoff election in the District 3 City Council contest was too close to call late Tuesday, although incumbent Klarissa Peña had a razor-thin lead over political newcomer Teresa Garcia.
But West Side voters decisively elected the city of Albuquerque’s newest City Council member, giving Stephanie Telles nearly 60% of the vote in the District 1 runoff election, according to unofficial election returns.
Telles’ opponent, Joshua Neal, garnered about 40% of the unofficial vote.
In the District 3 contest, Peña led by just over 1 percentage point late Tuesday. Peña had 50.52% of the vote to Garcia’s 49.49%. Peña was leading by 68 votes as of 10 p.m.
The race was too close to call Tuesday night, said Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling. Unknown is whether additional outstanding votes remain to be counted, he said.
Under state law, automatic recounts occur in local elections when the margin between the two candidates is 1% or less.
The District 1 City Council race was a contest between Telles, a Democrat, and Neal, a Republican, who were the two top vote-getters Nov. 4 in a four-way contest in the West Side district.
The winner will succeed Councilor Louie Sanchez, who chose not to seek reelection this year to pursue a bid for mayor.
“I’ve been a lifelong Democrat and I’m proud of that because of the values that the Democratic Party represents,” Telles said Tuesday night. “I think those are the values that reflect our community and so I am just excited to bring those values to City Hall.”
Telles, 41, and Neal, 29, both ran on their professional credentials.
Telles is a forensic accountant and fraud examiner who worked for the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor and is founder and CEO of Otoño Consulting, a fraud risk management firm.
Neal is a land development engineer for Albuquerque-based Bohannan Huston, who has worked on commercial and residential development projects in New Mexico.
In District 3, Peña and Garcia were the two top vote-getters in a three-way contest on Nov. 4.
Both candidates made Peña’s accomplishments a focus of their campaigns. Peña, 58, cited a list of projects completed or in progress during her 12 years in office.
Garcia argued that residents on the Southwest Mesa lack retail and job opportunities, and that the accomplishments cited by Peña too often have provided little benefit for District 3 residents.
In particular, Garcia criticized Peña for her advocacy of the Route 66 Visitors Center, a $13.1 million project located west of Albuquerque at Atrisco Vista and Central built with state, city and county funds. Garcia argued that the visitor center lies outside the city and remains little used.
Garcia also identifies as a survivor of domestic violence. In October she completed a three-year term as chair of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Commission for the city of Albuquerque. Currently, she works remotely as a digital marketing and communications specialist for the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence.
Mayor Keller wins third consecutive term in Albuquerque runoff election – Colleen Heild, Albuquerque Journal
Incumbent Tim Keller scored a historic third consecutive term in Albuquerque’s mayoral runoff election Tuesday, after a bruising contest fought over homelessness, crime and federal immigration enforcement.
Keller, 48, captured nearly 58% of the vote, compared to 42% for challenger Darren White, according to unofficial election results as of 9 p.m. Tuesday.
“Voters granted us something very, very special,” Keller said to a raucous crowd of supporters at The Clyde Hotel in Downtown Albuquerque. “It’s a mandate to push forward and it’s also a challenge to rise to the occasion. That is what our next four years is going to be all about.”
White conceded the mayoral race around 7:45 p.m. to a crowd of roughly 60 people gathered at the Courtyard by Marriott. The 62-year-old told supporters he had called Keller to congratulate him.
White said as a Republican he was fighting an uphill battle — as New Mexico remains a Democratic-leaning state — and lacked the public financing to win. He urged fellow Republicans to continue to speak their minds and fight for their beliefs, and encouraged supporters to back City Council candidates who share the same mindset.
“Don’t you think for a minute that your voice can’t be heard,” White said.
He added, “Maybe, just maybe, what we went through in those debates and all those forums, maybe the mayor will understand that we want him to fight for our families and we want him to fight for our businesses.”
Keller, whose campaign was publicly financed, collected more than $1.14 million in contributions for both the regular local and runoff elections, compared to White’s reported total of $642,429 in private contributions. White didn’t qualify for the public financing.
The two men entered the runoff election after neither candidate received 50% of the vote in the city’s Nov. 4 regular local election amidst a crowded field of six candidates.
Keller fended off weeks of White attack ads and, more recently, an anonymous campaign to induce homeless individuals living along Central Avenue to don bright yellow “I Tim Keller” sweatshirts. The tactic — which White said he had nothing to do with — led to Keller’s campaign filing an ethics complaint with the city.
An Albuquerque native first elected mayor in 2017, Keller campaigned on his eight-year record of fighting crime and expanding housing for the 5,000 or more unhoused people in the city. That included opening a multifaceted Gateway system of care and creating a city community safety department to respond to behavioral health and crisis situations in the city.
Keller touted a decrease in both violent and property crime in 2025 over the prior year and promised to continue efforts to equip the Albuquerque Police Department with advanced technology and civilian support to back up the 950 or so sworn officers.
The campaign marked White’s return to the political arena after a 14-year absence. He said he entered the race after lamenting about the “state” of the city, and finding no other Republican was running. White promised he would only serve for four years.
A former New Mexico public safety director, Bernalillo County sheriff, and city public safety officer, White campaigned on his law enforcement background, promising a change of direction, emphasizing aggressive encampment sweeps of homeless individuals, and full cooperation with federal immigration agents seeking access to data on suspects arrested by APD.
Keller called that approach to addressing homelessness “dangerous” and “ineffective.” And last summer, he issued an executive order reaffirming that city resources may not be used to assist in federal civil immigration enforcement, except where legally required.
Keller has said he will continue to add affordable housing units in the city, and work on a new 7-mile urban Rail Trail among his administration’s transportation priorities. The trail will link the Downtown area to Old Town and the Sawmill District.
Keller, in an energetic speech, told a room filled with supporters that he will continue to defend Albuquerque from both President Donald Trump and any other adversaries.
“Tonight, we stood up for Albuquerque,” Keller said. “Our families are the most important things in our lives and we will defend our families.”
Prescribed burn set in the Sandia Mountains of Bernalillo County – Vincent Rodriguez, KOAT
The Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands are planning prescribed fire pile burns in the Sandia Ranger District.
Fire managers are conducting burns following recent precipitation, snow covered ground and cooler temperatures. Conditions are suitable for burning piled slash and woody debris from forest restoration work.
There are two burns planned:
Sulphur Unit Prescribed Pile Burn: 18 acres of piles are expected to be burned within the Sulphur Unit of the prescribed burn plan. The burn will take place in the Sandia Mountains, north of Interstate 40 and west of Highway 14.
Smoke from the Sulphur Unit Prescribed Pile Burn could be visible from Albuquerque, Tijeras, Edgewood, and Moriarty.
Cedro Unit Prescribed Pile Burn: 15 acres of piles are expected to be burned in the Cedro unit of the prescribed burn plan. The pile burn will take place in the mountains along Forest Road 462 and Highway 337.
Smoke from the Cedro Unit could be visible from Albuquerque, Tijeras, Edgewood, and Moriarty.
Burning could last for several days during burn operations.