Here's what they're they're talking about this ABQ Election Eve '21

--What was the biggest mistake of the campaign? 

Hands down that was the over $900,000 spent by the owners of the NM United soccer team to persuade voters to approve a $50 million bond to build a soccer stadium near downtown. The idea was panned when it was popped on the public only a few months before the election and no amount of money, according to the polls, could persuade voters otherwise. United not only appears to have wasted money that could have been used for community improvements but also could have tarnished their brand. Then there's the matter of that uninspiring ad campaign. . . 

--Do we really need expensive runoff elections for mayor and city council? 

We'll get one if there's an unexpected surprise and Mayor Tim Keller fails to score 50 percent of the vote Tuesday. 

A runoff seems likely in crowded Council District 7 and perhaps District 9, both in the NE Heights. 

The city could adopt ranked choice voting--as Santa Fe has--or return to the old threshold of 40 percent to declare a winner. If we want to keep the 50 percent mark for Mayor, fine, but the smallish council districts going to run-offs? One other point: runoffs rarely displace the first place winner in the first round.

---As Election Eve arrived the gunshots continued to ring out, claiming five lives in the Metro. 

The dead include the son of former Corrales area GOP State Sen. Steve Komadina. And neighborhood protests over the growing homeless problem continued. But don't look for any immediate change following the election. APD will remain understaffed, the drug trade continues and ample affordable housing is a mirage. Previous ABQ mayors have lost their popularity because of much lesser problems. Keller has already burned over 10 points in his first term coming down from the low 60's to right at 50 percent approval. History says if he wins a second it doesn't get better--or can he be the exception?

Matt Baca

Attorney General Hector Balderas gave a nice nod to the re-elect of Keller last week but now he's got problems in his own backyard. His Chief Counsel has been busted for DWI--an absolute nightmare for the state's chief law enforcement officer: 

If you read the rest, it only gets worse. Baca been an articulate and informed staffer for the AG and the public. Balderas had to put him out of business as soon he learned of the DWI. He's no longer Chief Counsel. Come on, Matt. Uber.

Here in ABQ Keller's foes went after a fender bender that Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Rael was involved in, claiming it could have been a daytime DWI. The conspiracy theory erupted when Rael failed to call police to the scene of the minor mishap. Former APD Sergeant Dan Klein says that the's problem--not the accident: 

The city came with a fig leaf that barely covered Rael's private parts, saying he was in a city vehicle on his way to his job at the time of the accident but was not conducting official business--so he didn't have to call police. Lawrence, hide somewhere. That's not even a fig leaf.  

It's down to the wire and if you haven't been playing much attention to the ABQ School Board races, now is the time.

Due to a change in state law this is the first time board members are not being elected at a separate February election.