In his victory speech on Tuesday evening, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said he believed he had put the city on the right track and “stayed on course”.
Keller’s victory over Bernalillo County’s sheriff Manuel Gonzales and radio talk show host Eddy Aragon was indeed decisive. But getting 56% of the votes cast is not a mandate, it’s more of a wake-up call. In other words, 44% of Albuquerqueans voted to kick Keller out of office – not a small fringe group.
Gonzales, with 26% of the vote, said he was stunned that crime hadn’t played a major role in Tuesday’s election.
But, according to polls by the Journal, it did. Gonzales and Aragon simply weren’t the candidates who were able to win the support and trust of enough voters to campaign competitively.
crime
Journal polls ahead of Tuesday’s election showed “staggering percentages” of people concerned about crime, says journal poll researcher Brian Sanderoff. The poll, conducted two weeks before the election, found that 87% of respondents were concerned about crime, and that concern extends beyond political affiliation and age.
The poll found that 79% of voters aged 18 to 34 were concerned about the crime rate, compared with 90% of voters aged 65 and over.
More than a third of the registered voters felt “very insecure” or “rather insecure”. No wonder given the almost daily reports of shootings. Gunfire hit homes and vehicles at parties over the Halloween weekend, killing three people and wounding eight. The census continued last week, with victims of shootings found dead in a parking lot, an apartment complex and on the street.
So it’s no surprise that only 18% felt “very safe”.
One of the biggest challenges for Keller in his second term will be building a sense of security among townspeople, especially the 44% who did not support him.
homelessness
The Journal poll also showed that Albuquerqueans are far more worried about homelessness than in a similar Journal poll four years ago before this city election.
While two-thirds of likely voters this year named crime their biggest problem, 23% named homelessness. No other topic was raised by more than 5% of the respondents. Four years ago, more voters identified the economy, education, and even the construction of the Albuquerque Rapid Transit as the main crime problem.
Democrats and Republicans alike expressed concern about homelessness, while there were dramatic political differences on most other issues.
The city’s purchase of the former Lovelace Hospital along Gibson for $ 15 million earlier this year marked the largest homelessness investment in its history. Gonzales and Aragon rejected the proposed Gateway Center. With the election behind us, there should also be any uncertainty about expanding services to deal with the homelessness crisis.
Police support
Keller is fortunate to have a police department with strong community support across the ideological spectrum. A solid majority of respondents, 61%, support the work of Albuquerque police officers, while only 20% oppose it; 17% had mixed feelings.
Unfortunately, this strong support does not seep through to the 18-34 age group. Only 44% of voters in the group approved of the work of Albuquerque police officers, 36% of that group disapproved.
The survey shows that the younger population’s distrust of the police has not decreased since the protests against police brutality and racial bias last year. Building police support among younger people and improving cooperation will be monumental tasks.
Vaccination order
Keller has so far avoided stipulating that city employees have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have to undergo weekly tests, citing unspecified legal and collective bargaining considerations.
Now that a second term is secured and the COVID numbers are going in the wrong direction at alarming rates, he should reconsider. It is completely unfair to require state, federal, hospital, school and military personnel to be vaccinated or to lose their jobs, but not city workers.
Overall, 63% of voters polled by the Journal said they support the COVID-19 vaccine mandates, while 32% were against. This ratio of close to 2 to 1 should encourage Keller to do what is necessary and implement a vaccine mandate. He said on election night that he was ready to make difficult decisions. This is one of them.
Strong participation
Keller and the new city council (final composition depends on two runoff elections in December) have a big task ahead of them. There is much work to be done to combat crime, homelessness, public health and the economy – only 25% of respondents said the city’s economy is “good”; only 2% said “excellent”.
The poll shows that Albuquerque voters are very concerned about whether the city is on the right track. Remember that respondents have cell phones / landlines and are in better shape than those who couldn’t attend because they didn’t have a phone.
While we believe the turnout should have been higher on Tuesday, the fact that there were 22,000 more voters than in the last mayoral election shows the concern. People don’t come to the vote when they’re happy; They do it when the stakes are high.
Polls and turnout suggest residents know Albuquerque is in crisis. That has to lead current and new councilors and ensure that Keller and his administration use this second term to change things. It is vital for all of Albuquerque to do so.
This editorial first appeared in the . It was written by members of the editorial team and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than that of the authors.
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