Councilor-elect Fiebelkorn

Republicans were stopped short of an election upset and a takeover of the nine member ABQ City Council Tuesday night as Dem Tammy Fiebelkorn easily defeated Republican Lori Robertson--62% to 38%--in District 7 in the Mid-Heights in their runoff election. But the R's did manage to keep the District 9 seat in the far Heights in their corner, with Renee Grout narrowly defeating Rob Grilley, 52% to 48%. Full results here.

While the R's did not get back the majority, when results from the runoffs and November 2 balloting are tallied the Dem majority on the council was clipped from 6 to 3 to 5 to 4. 

And with conservative Democrat Louie Sanchez from the Westside now a swing vote the GOP could have better odds of success on some issues. 

However, Dem Mayor Tim Keller has the veto to keep the conservatives at bay, if necessary. It takes 6 votes to override a mayoral veto. 

There was never much question about the outcome in District 7, now a bastion of liberalism compared to years past. Fiebelkorn, an environmental consultant, takes over from retiring Dem Councilor Diane Gibson. Her big win was earned in part by Robertson's association with conservative Pastor Steve Smotherman. That created a controversy that blew up in the headlines and in turn helped blow up the Robertson campaign. 

Fiebelkorn will be a reliably progressive vote on the council. 

In District 9 Dem analysts said Rob Grilley was never a "good fit" for the district who barely came in second place in the initial balloting to earn a runoff spot. He tried to couch his progressive leanings in centrist language but the district that includes the affluent Four Hills neighborhood wasn't buying. 

The district long ago elected a Democrat but Michael Brasher was a conservative. Grilley would have been the first Dem with progressive leanings to take the seat since the modern form of government began in 1974. 

The Dems may have had a better chance with another candidate but Renee Grout, a small businesswoman and political newcomer, played straight to the still substantial conservative base in the district, pounding away at the crime and homeless problems that have plagued much of the city and took home the win. She replaces retiring R Councilor Don Harris. 

Councilor-elect Grout

During Keller's first four years the council has been mostly supportive but that has already begun to change with the advent of his second term which he secured with a large win November 2. 

Keller recently sided with GOP Councilor Brook Bassan on a proposed $110 million bond issue and even progressive Dems Davis and Benton balked and the measure was defeated. 

Second mayoral terms are historically challenging for the incumbent. None of them have ever gone on to higher elective office. Keller would like to break that mold but to do it he will have to break the back of the ABQ crime epidemic. 

His relationship with the council will be made especially rocky by the presence of R Dan Lewis who reclaimed his District 5 Westside seat in November. Lewis lost the 2017 mayor's race to Keller in a landslide and can be expected to take a look at the next one and use the council as a launching pad.

For the city's Democrats the council outcome last night likely means no swing to the right that they feared on social issues such as sanctuary cities and minimum wage. But if Councilor-elect Sanchez veers too far over to the R's Keller could be using his veto pen more than expected. 

For the Republicans the good news is that the new council, while not upending progressive power, does keep it in check. 

The Mayor and councilors will be sworn in January 1.

As expected turnout was down dramatically in the runoff elections compared to November 2 but it wasn't a collapse. Coincidentally, the percentage fall in voting from the Nov. 2 election was the same in both runoff elections--38 percent. 

In the initial balloting 13,348 voters cast ballots in District 7. On Tuesday 8,244 votes were counted. In District 9 the first round vote was 12,596 and in the runoff that fell to 7,772.

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