The city's exploding murder rate has shattered the century mark for the year and is now in unchartered territory. 

Mayor Keller is safely re-elected which means the R's will push the issue into the Governor's race hoping to gain traction in big Bernco against MLG. 

The GOP Guv nomination contest is already seeing mild sparks with Greg Zanetti running a digital ad that says Mark Ronchetti is a TV weatherman not up to the job:

Zanetti is retired from the US Army National Guard. 

Besides Zanetti and Ronchetti there are six other candidates in the race, including T or C State Rep. Rebecca Dow.

Back on the soaring murder rate, look for it to be brought back full force in the two city council runoff elections slated for December 7. Here's a peek at the early action. 

District 9 Dem contender Rob Grilley says the $14,000 in public financing available for the runoff is not enough so after receiving $41,000 in public money for the initial Nov. 2 election, Grilley has decided to switch to private financing for the runoff. He says he is doing so because he expects "an onslaught of money from the far right" to come into the race. By taking private financing Grilley can tap in to Dem Party donor lists and those of Mayor Keller. 

Grilley faces Republican small business owner Renee Grout in the runoff. She also accepted public financing in the first round. There's no word yet on whether Grout will go to private financing but Grilley appears to expect that and/or an outside PAC to come in for his foe. 

District 9 is in the far NE Heights (including Four Hills) and has been represented mainly by R's but the Dems say the district is ripe to flip. Grout finished first in the initial balloting beating Grilley and Dem Byron Powdrell. Grilley barely got past Powdrell. Now he needs his endorsement.

In District 7 in the mid NE Heights, Dem Tammy Fiebelkorn finished second in a six person field in the initial Nov. 2 election. She faces GOP real estate agent Lori Lee Robertson who came in first with 32 percent of the vote. Robertson was the lone R and the five Dems split the D vote. Fiebelkorn now needs the support of her former Dem rivals and is getting some:

Montoya finished 5th in the race, getting 9 percent.

The council would flip from a majority of Dems to a majority of R's ( 5 to 4) if Republicans Grout and Robertson were to prevail in December. 

Nyika Allen

Nyika Allen, Director of the City of Albuquerque’s Aviation Department, is stepping down to take a new job at the Port of Oakland as Assistant Director of Aviation at Oakland International Airport. 

That would be a rather routine announcement from City Hall, but Allen is coming off a mayoral campaign that dragged her name through the mud when BernCo Sheriff Manny Gonzales shocked a TV debate audience by making unfounded allegations that a woman in the employ of the city was having an extramarital affair with Mayor Keller. 

Gonzales mentioned no names but the consultant for the PAC supporting him, James Hallinan, dropped Allen's name on Twitter as the woman in question. The City Attorney quickly responded with a rebuke and a threat of legal action against the consultant. 

The city says Allen's departure was in the mix well before her name surfaced in the campaign. Deputy Director Richard McCurley has been named the new director.

Meanwhile, the ABQ Sunport continues to be one of the more welcoming airports in the region, even garnering this video compliment from actor Alec Baldwin before the recent tragedy at his Santa Fe movie set. 

Happening today:

The 5 p.m. meeting will be carried live on GOVTV, YouTube and Bernco.gov. Click here to sign up for public comment.