By Matthew Reichbach
With the 2025 Albuquerque mayoral campaign still in its infancy, the announced candidates filed their first campaign finance reports this week.
Most candidates have opted to seek public financing, which requires candidates to collect qualifying donations from 3,780 residents, or 1 percent of registered voters, to qualify for over $750,000 in funds for campaigning.
Those seeking public financing can only receive donations from individuals of up to $250.
Of the nine candidates who filed campaign finance reports, four announced raising more than $10,000.
Both those seeking public financing and exploring private financing cannot accept donations from foreign nationals, state PACs or companies or organizations that have active contracts with the City of Albuquerque.
The candidate who reported raising the most money ahead of the first filing deadline was former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, who raised $29,801.20 in addition to $2,311.24 in in-kind contributions. Most of the in-kind contributions came in the form of office space from Doug Peterson, Albuquerque’s largest property owner and a frequent critic of incumbent Mayor Tim Keller.
City Councilor Dan Lewis, cannabis company owner Duke Rodriguez and former Secretary of Tourism Rebecca Latham were among White’s donors.
Keller himself reported raising $15,621.12, all in monetary contributions. He did not report any in-kind contributions. Keller’s campaign reported spending $2,500 on various campaign assets, including a web domain, graphic design and field outreach.
Some prominent donors to Keller include former State Rep. Abbas Akhil, attorney Will Ferguson and former New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish.
Keller donated $2,500 to his own campaign.
Mayling Armijo, who is running a privately financed campaign, announced raising $19,505, with just over $1,500 in in-kind contributions.
Mayoral candidates opting for the privately financed option can receive donations up to $6,000 and can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money.
David Poe donated $1,000 to her campaign, while former Bernalillo County Commissioner Lonnie Talbert also donated to Armijo.
Louie Sanchez, who is seeking public financing, reported raising $11,750. However, the vast majority of this was through a $10,000 loan Sanchez made to his own campaign. Sanchez reported spending $9,900 on campaign polling from WPA Intelligence.