By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Rio Rancho’s record-breaking mayoral runoff didn’t just set turnout records — it also busted the city’s election budget by more than $100,000, City Clerk Noel Davis told the Governing Body during an Aug. 18 work session.
Davis, who’s held the clerk’s office a little over two years and just ran her first municipal cycle, said the city budgeted $450,000 for the March election and April runoff but ultimately spent $550,373.78. She pointed to new charges from Sandoval County — which took over delivering voting tabulators this cycle — plus a $7,928 fee from the Secretary of State’s office for permission to certify its own machines. Rio Rancho is one of seven remaining New Mexico municipalities that still runs its own elections instead of joining the statewide system, giving it control over local rules like its voter ID requirement but adding cost and complexity.
The costs tracked with a historic turnout surge. Nearly 20% of registered voters cast ballots in April’s runoff — the highest runoff turnout in city history — as Paul Wymer defeated Alexandria Piland 10,394 to 6,096. The March election itself drew 13,814 voters, the city’s best regular-election turnout since 2008.
District 3 Councilor Bob Tyler defended sticking with the status quo, saying the workload doesn’t justify scrapping voter ID or the city’s independent election. “It’s something that the citizens have said they want, so it’s something that we do,” Tyler said, adding he’d support changes only if the state mandates them.
Deputy City Manager Peter Wells pushed back on framing this as business as usual, telling councilors no previous clerk had run an election of this scope. Davis said the office logged more than 600 hours on the election, on top of hundreds more from IT, police, fire and building maintenance staff. “It took the entire city of Rio Rancho to conduct a successful election,” she said.
More details
- Davis is floating a switch to plurality voting — awarding the win to whoever gets the most votes, eliminating runoffs. A 2025 citizen survey found 39% of respondents “very supportive” and 34% “somewhat supportive” of the idea.
- A pending change to the Democratic National Committee’s presidential primary calendar could force New Mexico’s Legislature to shift municipal election dates statewide, adding new uncertainty to Rio Rancho’s planning.
Davis closed her presentation on a personal note, telling councilors her father was hospitalized during the campaign while she was working 14- to 15-hour days. “This is really hard on the families of the staff,” she said.
Watch the full Aug. 18 Governing Body work session:
rrnm.gov/2303/Watch-and-Download-City-Meetings