![\"Tim](\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Keller-Tim-336x211.jpg\")
Courtesy photo<\/p>
State Auditor Tim Keller<\/p><\/div>\n
“If elected mayor, Tim will resign as state auditor,” said Jessie Hunt, who is managing Keller’s mayoral campaign.<\/p>\n
Keller hasn’t formally entered the Oct. 3 mayoral race, but Hunt confirmed he’s running and said a formal announcement is forthcoming.<\/p>\n
New Mexico voters elected Keller, a Democrat,\u00a0to be the state auditor in November 2014, and he took office the following January. If he is elected mayor he would be sworn in to that\u00a0office around Dec. 1, a little more than a year before his term as auditor ends.<\/p>\n
Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, would be responsible for appointing\u00a0someone to serve the remainder of Keller’s\u00a0term as auditor, which ends on Dec. 31, 2018. The auditor’s office is responsible for ensuring that hundreds of state and local agencies complete annual audits in addition to investigating complaints of waste, fraud and abuse in government.<\/p>\n
Keller’s election as state auditor<\/a> was a rare bright spot for Democrats — along with the election of Hector Balderas as attorney general — in 2014, when Republicans won greater control of state government than they held at any previous point in New Mexico history. When winners of the 2014 election were sworn in, Republicans controlled four of seven statewide elected offices and the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n Last year, Democrats won back control of the House and the secretary of state’s office.<\/p>\n Current Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, a Republican, isn’t seeking re-election this year, and the race to replace him\u00a0is already crowded.<\/p>\n