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| Bregman and Keller |
Bregman, appointed District Attorney by MLG in January 2023 to replace DA Torrez who had been elected attorney general, easily defeated Damon Martinez at the June '24 Dem primary for DA. With no Republican running in November, he will be elected to his own four year term.
But the odds are he will interrupt it.
Bregman, unabashedly ambitious and with a hunger for the top city job (he's run before), is beginning to look like the only plausible alternative to his fellow Democrat and Mayor Tim Keller, a sometimes progressive who will be seeking an unprecedented third consecutive term in November 2025.
For a Democrat the tough-talking Bregman is receiving noticeable support from the conservative establishment, including the newspaper, the ABQ Chamber of Commerce and NAIOP, the commercial real estate group. They desperately want a candidate and Bregman seems the natural pick--a crime conservative Democrat in a city where electing a Republican has become next to impossible.
Bregman raised nearly $500,000 for his successful DA ran, an impressive sum and the most of any candidate in the state in the 2024 primary. He has the organizational flair to qualify for nearly $700,000 in public financing available to mayoral candidates or he could reject public financing and raise more than that from private donations.
If Bregman did go for public money it would likely be joined with an outside PAC that could raise another $500,000 or more, giving the DA the financial strength to compete.
Keller is expected to again qualify for public financing and have an outside PAC formed for him.
Who else could play in this rarefied mayoral atmosphere? Who else wants to? There are no eager beavers in the early going.
A Keller-Bregman face-off dotted perhaps with a few second-tier hopefuls would make for a classic conservative vs. progressive campaign over crime.
Bregman would bring with him loads of political baggage from his stints as state Dem party chair and as a criminal defense attorney but his more recent performance as DA has been ratified by the public and given him the hope that his past will not drag him down.
Keller is an experienced and effective campaigner. If Bregman takes a pass on the mayoral race, it could mean Keller's persistence in the face of adversity could pay off with that unprecedented third term in a row. If Bregman runs, the race is tossed high into the air.
BLAME GAME
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| Rep. Chandler |
As we've been reporting top lawmakers are now turning against the city for constantly blaming them for the stubborn crime. The latest:
At an interim meeting of the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee, the chairwoman, Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, said the Legislature has allocated "hundreds of millions of dollars" to agencies that leave money on the table.
"There's been laser focus by this Legislature to ensure that those with the responsibility of enforcing the laws have the resources that they need. They're not being utilized. It's just not happening, and we need to start calling it for what it is." Chandler also said the state has "hundreds and hundreds of criminal laws" that need to be enforced.
"We have a city (ABQ) here that suffers from a serious crime problem. It's the mayor and it's the police department that's primarily responsible for ensuring [laws are enforced], not the Legislature. We have been providing the resources that they ask for and that they need, so let's just call it as it is."
If Chandler came down here and ran for mayor, she just might win--and without a runoff.
DON'T GET BLUE
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At the risk of getting blue in the face, we again urge state policy makers to seriously consider providing high speed internet to rural New Mexico via Starlink and its satellites that are so successful across the globe--and more cost effective than rolling out fiber to remote households. But the window is closing. The latest:
New Mexico is one step closer to using $675 million in federal dollars to get high speed internet to more people across the state. A year ago, the Biden administration announced that New Mexico would get $675 million to expand broadband access from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Development (BEAD) program. New Mexico’s initial plan for how to spend the millions was approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, so the state can move forward to request and pick subgrant recipients for the money.
The state broadband office has indicated that satellite internet will be deployed as a last resort. But with fiber taking years to install, they are missing an entire generation of New Mexicans.
This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.
