A Choice of One Out of One

"It's very depressing to see only one of four races in play. Somebody is going to become a councilor because nobody else is running and the incumbent is retiring, so there's no competition," says Viki Harrison, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, an advocate for transparent and accountable governing.

A small candidate pool equates to low voter turnout, as demonstrated by a recent municipal election in Albuquerque, which just 8 percent of voters cast ballots.

"If the guy is already going to be my councilor, what is motiving me to go vote for him?" Harrison asks. "When people don't have a choice, they're going to become disengaged."

In elections held from 1996 to 2006, all four districts saw multiple candidates, but declining participation has particularly led to District 4's candidate running unchallenged. That area, with 12,411 registered voters as of Nov. 12, also historically reports low voter turnout. Councilor Bill Dimas, who has decided not to seek re-election, won the seat in 2012 with just 1,757 votes. That year, every district had at least two, if not three, candidates to choose from.

But options of that kind have been low in supply, particularly in the last decade. Just one person ran for District 4 in 2008, and in 2010, both Councilors Carmichael Dominguez and Ronald Trujillo were unopposed in Districts 3 and 4, respectively.

With a governing body comprised of citizens—councilors are paid stipends, but not enough to give up their day jobs—and in a city where public campaign financing was meant to make these seats and the costs of running for them more accessible, there's also a need for some kind of educational resources so candidates know how to achieve that end.

The field of potential candidates grew more narrow this fall when Donald Ramon Vigil, who sought to challenge incumbent Councilor Christopher Rivera for his seat representing District 3, missed the number of valid signatures on his petition for candidacy. Vigil needed 33 valid signatures and turned in 41, but only 27 proved valid, according to a report in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Elections have also become more intimidating in the face of heavy involvement by independent groups and political action committees, as voters saw in Santa Fe's 2014 mayoral race.

"When I talk to people who have thought about running, they're like, 'Well, I don't know if I want to do that now, because we've got all these independent groups and PACs who are going to trash me and my family,'" Harrison says. "People aren't even worried that much about the candidates they're running against anymore. They're worried about outside groups and what they're going to do."

While Rivera, Councilor Peter Ives (who runs unopposed for District 2) and Michael Harris, the only candidate running for Dimas' District 4 seat, are clear winners here, there's a long list of people who lose when elections play out this way.

"The citizens are the ones who are losing by not having competition, because they don't have a couple candidates coming to their door, asking their opinions and finding out what's important to the voters," Harrison says. "And it's not the candidates' fault. It's the fault of system that has no competition."

What Harris, Ives and Rivera undertake in the way of campaigning between now and the March 1 election remains to be seen. Rivera says he still plans some door-to-door campaigning, but it will be as much a get-out-the-vote campaign for District 3, which typically sees lower registration numbers.

"It's still important to get out there and have your voice be heard," he says, adding with a laugh, "I don't know if it'll work."

Rivera qualified for public financing for a campaign by collecting 184 $5 donations on top of more than 200 signatures, earning him access to $1,500 in public cash to campaign. He says he'll spend the coming months encouraging voters to demonstrate the district cares about city elections—and the projects the city might send their way, including amenities like grocery stores and restaurants.

Harris says he picked up his packet the same day Dimas did, expecting to challenge the incumbent for his seat, having decided that with some of his construction projects coming to a close and having spent four years on the Planning Commission, that now might be a good time to run for City Council. He was surprised to hear the news when Dimas didn't submit a statement of organization, he says, and again when no one else stepped up to contest his run for the council seat.

Still, he says, he plans to continue to reach out to his soon-to-be constituents to talk about their concerns. "It's a matter of going out and hearing what people have to say. If that's campaigning, that's what I'll be doing," Harris says.

The only competitive City Council race is the one to replace longtime District 1 Councilor Patti Bushee, who decided to retire this year, citing family concerns. Running to replace her are Kathryn Kennedy, a partner at Skylight Santa Fe; Renee Villarreal, a former planning commission member; returning candidate Marie Campos, who was recently redistricted from District 3 to District 1; and Frank Montaño, a former city councilor and school board member. Villarreal has Bushee's endorsement.

One other competitive race is an unsung hero position—municipal judge. With Judge Ann Yalman retiring this year, Ignacio Gallegos and Virginia Vigil are running for the citywide job. Vigil is a former county commissioner, and Gallegos is a lawyer who for the last year has been an administrative law judge at the Motor Vehicle Department, hearing license revocation appeals. Few candidates for City Council will likely affect turnout for that race as well.

Santa Fe Reporter