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Albuquerque, New Mexico municipal elections, 2015
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The city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, held elections for city council on October 6, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was May 31, 2015. Four of the nine city council seats were up for election.[1]
Incumbents Isaac Benton and Trudy Jones were unopposed for re-election to District 2 and District 8, respectively. District 4 incumbent Brad Winter defeated challenger Israel Chavez. The race to replace Rey Garduño in District 6 included Patrick Davis, Samuel Kerwin and Hess "Hessito" Yntema. Davis defeated Kerwin and Yntema for the open seat.
Candidates for city council debated the Fair Workweek Act, a proposal withdrawn from the council in August 2015 that would have required paid sick leave and advanced scheduling for private-sector employees. Learn more about the debate here.
City council
Candidate list
District 2
October 6 General election candidates:
- Isaac Benton
- Incumbent Benton was first elected in 2005.
District 4
October 6 General election candidates:
- Israel Chavez
- Brad Winter - Incumbent Winter was first elected in 1999.
District 6
Note: Incumbent Rey Garduño did not run for re-election.
October 6 General election candidates:
District 8
October 6 General election candidates:
- Trudy Jones - Incumbent Jones was first elected in 2007.
Election results
| Albuquerque City Council District 4 General Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Brad Winter Incumbent |
58.3% | 2,912 | |
| Israel Chavez | 41.7% | 2,079 | |
| Total Votes | 4,991 | ||
| Source: Bernalillo County Clerk, "City of Albuquerque Municipal Election," October 6, 2015 | |||
| Albuquerque City Council District 6 General Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Patrick Davis |
67.4% | 2,894 | |
| Hess "Hessito" Yntema | 22.9% | 984 | |
| Samuel Kerwin | 9.7% | 417 | |
| Total Votes | 4,295 | ||
| Source: Bernalillo County Clerk, "City of Albuquerque Municipal Election," October 6, 2015 | |||
Districts map
Below is a map of Albuquerque's nine city council districts in 2015. Each district elected its own representative on the council. 
Issues
Fair Workweek Act
The biggest source of disagreement among city council candidates stemmed from proposed legislation guaranteeing paid sick leave and advanced scheduling for private-sector employees. The Fair Workweek Act proposed by councilors Isaac Benton and Klarissa Pena would have required employers to produce work schedules with at least three weeks of advanced notice, pay for last-minute shift changes and offer paid sick leave. Mayor Richard Berry promised to veto the legislation in early August and the council would have needed a 6-3 vote to override Berry's veto. A request for an economic impact analysis delayed consideration of the bill before Benton and Pena withdrew legislation on August 17, 2015.[2][3][4]
- Read the full text of the Fair Workweek Act proposal here
District 4 incumbent Brad Winter and challenger Israel Chavez expressed different views of the act during an August 2015 candidate forum hosted by the real estate group National Association for Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP). Winter opposed the legislation and argued against intervention in day-to-day business operations by government. Chavez suggested that the proposal be broken into several bills to encourage discussion over individual provisions.[2][5]
Patrick Davis, Samuel Kerwin and Hess "Hessito" Yntema also disagreed about the act at the NAIOP forum. Davis supported the act though noted that the council could improve provisions through open discussion. Kerwin acknowledged that the government should not create burdensome legislation for business but also argued that businesses needed to respond to worker concerns over inflexible scheduling. Yntema opposed the legislation on the grounds that the provisions may not be legal.[5]
Governing majority
The board had a Democratic majority of 5-4 entering the 2015 election. Elections to the council are nonpartisan but the partisan affiliations of the councilors were widely known based on voter registration and council votes.[6][7][8][9][10]
If the bill proceeded to a vote, supporters would have needed to flip Winter's seat, win the seat vacated by Garduno and secure support from Diane G. Gibson to get a veto-proof 6-3 majority. Opponents of the bill needed Winter to keep his seat to prevent a veto override. The 2015 election resulted in no change in the 5-4 majority for Democratic members.
The following table shows the partisan breakdown of the board entering the election along with publicly stated positions on the Fair Workweek Act:
| District | Council member | Affiliation | Stance on Fair Workweek Act |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ken Sanchez |  |
|
| 2 | Isaac Benton (co-sponor) | |
|
| 3 | Klarissa Pena (co-sponsor) | |
|
| 4 | Rey Garduño | |
Unavailable |
| 5 | Diane G. Gibson | |
Unavailable |
| 6 | Brad Winter |  |
|
| 7 | Dan Lewis | |
|
| 8 | Trudy Jones | |
|
| 9 | Don Harris | |
|
Support and opposition
Supporters
- OLÉ (Organizers in the Land of Enchantment) supported the legislation as part of an effort to improve working conditions for retail employees. The group responded to the act's withdrawal by suggesting that they would pursue a ballot measure featuring the bill's provisions in 2016.[3] The group released poll numbers in July 2015 suggesting broad support for paid sick leave (79 percent approval), advanced scheduling (63 percent approval) and flexible scheduling (68 percent approval).[11]
Opposition
- Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce issued the following statement in opposition to the act:
| “ |
The Board of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce has taken a position in opposition to the Fair Workweek Act (O-15-57) as the ordinance is too costly to our members, impossible to enforce and that there are many other laws that regulate the workforce already in place. |
” |
| —Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, (2015), [13] | ||
- Terri Cole, the president of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, issued the following statement in opposition to the act:
| “ |
We need jobs in Albuquerque and policies that support the private sector instead of policies that make it harder to do business here. This proposed ordinance is as far afield as it can possibly get to that goal. We will work hard to defeat this bill. [12] |
” |
| —Albuquerque Business First, (2015), [14] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Albuquerque New Mexico Election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- City of Albuquerque
- City of Albuquerque - 2015 Municipal Election Calendar
- City of Albuquerque - 2015 Candidate List
Footnotes
- ↑ City of Albuquerque, "2015 Municipal Election Calendar," accessed May 19, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Albuquerque Journal, "Proposed law to get 90-day fiscal analysis," August 3, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Albuquerque Journal, "Fair Workweek Act may take petition track," August 6, 2015
- ↑ City of Albuquerque, "Ordinance O-15-57," August 17, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The New Mexico Political Report, "ABQ city council hopefuls talk Fair Work Week, transit and more," August 24, 2015
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Party-Line Votes the New Norm at City Hall," January 1, 2012
- ↑ City of Albuquerque, "Councilor Lewis Calls on Sponsors of Fair Workweek Act to Withdraw Bill," accessed September 2, 2015
- ↑ KBO4, "Fair Work Week proposal postponed to study impact on businesses," August 3, 2015
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Most council hopefuls back bus rapid transit," August 24, 2015
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Two city councilors will introduce 'Workweek Act'," June 22, 2015
- ↑ KOB4, "Poll from same group sponsoring Fair Workweek Act shows community support," July 30, 2015
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, "Position on Fair Workweek Act (O-15-57)," accessed September 2, 2015
- ↑ Albuquerque Business First, "Albuquerque Chamber opposes Fair Workweek Act," June 26, 2015
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