Las Cruces city councilors approved this week a resolution formalizing the date and other details of the upcoming Nov. 6 municipal election.
Up for grabs in November are:
• The mayor’s office. Bill Mattiace has announced that he will seek re-election.
• The District 1 council seat currently held by Jose Frietze.
• The District 2 council seat held by Dolores Connor.
• The District 4 council seat held by Steve Trowbridge, who has announced he won’t seek re-election. Isaac Chavez, who unsuccessfully challenged state Rep. Andy Nuñez last year, has said he’s likely running.
• The municipal judgeship held by Melissa Miller-Byrnes.
Candidates must file formal declarations between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 at the city clerk’s office, located on the basement level of City Hall, 200 N. Church Street. Voter registration for the city election ends at 5 p.m. on Oct. 9.
Absentee ballots can be requested beginning Oct. 10, and in-person absentee voting at the clerk’s office begins Oct. 17. All absentee voting ends on Nov. 3. Hours for absentee voting will be Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On three Saturdays – Oct. 20, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 – absentee voting will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Polls will be open on the first Tuesday in November from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Each seat up for grabs has a four-year term.
The biggest issue in the election will be the city’s rapid growth. Approval in April of the gross receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America and in May of the annexation and master plan for The Vistas at Presidio, a massive development on the
The biggest question yet to be answered is whether Councilor Ken Miyagishima, who ran unsuccessfully against Mattiace in 2003, will try again. Miyagishima’s last public comment was that he hasn’t made a decision.
His current term runs until 2009, so he has nothing to lose by running for mayor.