Mayor's Poll

As a former Mayor of Albuquerque I will now interpret the research and Polling Poll that was released in the Albuquerque Journal today. This interpretation is totally prejudicial though. The poll shows Mayor Martin Chavez right on 40% but with over 60% in approval ratings. His nearest competitors are Eric Griego at 13%, Brad Winter at 11% and David Steele at 3%.

Marty is probably in pretty good shape right now, but with 40% reelect numbers he is not out of the danger of having a run off election. His low reelect numbers are traditional for any Mayor in Albuquerque. No Mayor has ever won a reelection effort, although two have hung out for four years and come back to win again. They are Harry Kinney and Mayor Chavez. Chavez could break that jinx this time around because of the nonexistence of any serious opposition campaigns. It probably will get pretty nasty in the last month however and that is why Chavez might indeed face a runoff.

One other thing to consider is the effect of the minimum wage ballot initiative. If the public is heavily in favor of that initiative then where do those voters break out on election day for Mayor? Marty Chavez opposes the initiative and that could potentially hurt him. I feel that this initiative will drive the turn out and you can be assured most of the campaigning by special interest groups will center on this issue and not the ho-hum Mayor's race. Some of the city council races might be more interesting to watch, but overall apathy still reigns on local politics.