Albuquerque, Las Cruces hold elections later this year

In a few months Albuquerque and Las Cruces, New Mexico’s two largest cites, will have elections for several city council seats. Las Cruces will also hold an election for mayor and the presiding municipal judge.

Here’s more information on each election:

Albuquerque

New Mexico’s largest city will hold an election Oct. 6 to select councilors in Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8. Voters must be registered by Sept. 8. Polls are open on Oct. 6 from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

If you can’t make Election Day, you can come out from Sept. 16-Oct. 2 for early voting. Though voting locations have yet to be determined you can keep up to date with changes here.

In order to vote in Albuquerque municipal elections you must bring a photo ID. A list of acceptable identification cards can be found here.

You can also vote absentee. You can request a ballot by going online or emailing, mailing or calling the city clerk. You can find out more information about absentee voting here.

Albuquerque is in the qualifying and petitioning period, so we can’t tell you who all the candidates will be. However, we can tell you about the current councilors:

District 2’s councilor is Democrat Isaac Benton, who was first elected to the city council in 2005. He will be running for re-election and seeking public financing.
District 4’s councilor is Republican Brad Winter, who as the longest serving city councilor was first elected to his position in 1999.
District 6’s councilor is Democrat Rey Garduño, who was first elected in 2007. He will not be running for re-election this fall.
District 8’s councilor is Republican Trudy Jones, who was first elected to her position in 2007.

Las Cruces

Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net

Election Day in Las Cruces in 2007.

Las Cruces will hold a municipal election Nov. 3 for mayor, councilors in Districts 1, 2 and 4 and the presiding municipal judge. Information about voting on Election Day and early and absentee voting is not yet available. You will be able to check for updated information here as the election approaches. Candidate packages will be available in July in the city clerk’s office. You can register to vote here.

Since we are still in the qualifying and petitioning period, there is not yet official information on who is running. We can tell you about the current holders of these seats:

The mayor of Las Cruces is Mayor Ken Miyagishima, who was first elected in 2007.
District 1’s councilor is Miguel Silva, who was also first elected in 2007.
District 2’s councilor is Greg Smith, who was elected in 2011. He was selected in 2013 by the other councilors to be mayor pro tem and act as the city’s leader in the mayor’s absence.
District 4’s councilor is Nathan Small, who was elected in 2007.
The presiding municipal judge is Melissa Miller-Byrnes, who has been elected four times.