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Anami Dass
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Anami Dass ran for election to the Albuquerque City Council to represent District 9 in New Mexico. She will not appear on the ballot for the general election on November 4, 2025.
Dass completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2025
See also: City elections in Albuquerque, New Mexico (2025)
General election
The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.
General election for Albuquerque City Council District 9
Incumbent Renee Grout, Melani Farmer, and Colton Newman are running in the general election for Albuquerque City Council District 9 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Renee Grout (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Melani Farmer (Nonpartisan) | ||
 | Colton Newman (Nonpartisan)  | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Anami Dass (Nonpartisan)
- Byron Powdrell (Nonpartisan)
Endorsements
Dass received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Anami Dass completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dass' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a harm reductionist and human rights advocate who has called Albuquerque home for the last 10 years. My work within city government has been focused on advancing civil rights, challenging harmful policies that make it harder for people trying to regain housing, and reminding politicians that their choices have the potential to meaningfully impact on the people who elect them. I am running a zero-dollar campaign because money has too much influence over our government, and we need councilors who represent the people, not just the donors. When the city is reviewing its budget, we need a councilor who knows what its like to struggle financially. We need a councilor who will find out where our money is being misused and stop it from happening. We need someone who represents the people who receive government assistance, not another councilor who has found a way to profit off of charity. Albuquerque is a beautiful city, and that's because of the strength and resilience of the people who live here. We need someone who will always put people first and property second.
- I am running because I am tired of seeing elected officials prioritize profits over people. Our community deserves an advocate who is there to fight for us rather than fighting over our money. We can grow our economy all we want, but if it comes at the cost of our community, it isn't worth it. We need a leader who serve your interests and that of your neighbors. We don't need another official who would gladly trade the wellbeing of our people if it means more money for them and their friends.
- Homelessness is solvable, but only if we stop doing the same thing we did to get into the situation we are in. We need to slow down the processes that remove people from housing and simultaneously speed up the rehousing processes until we are housing faster than people are loosing housing. That means we need elected officials who prioritize the goal of getting folks into housing and keeping them housed rather than focusing on new ways to harass people who live outside until they are out of sight. Eviction prevention mediation, fair housing protections, short-term financial assistance programs, rent control regulations, livable wages, and emergency relocation funds are not just solutions to homelessness, but vital investments in our future.
- Together, we can change Albuquerque for the better. We could ensure that our children will be able to afford to live here. We could ensure that our city is a place where they want to live. Economic growth means nothing if we are not the ones who benefit from it. We were not meant to serve the economy, the economy is supposed to serve us, our community, and our environment.
Human Rights, Housing Reform, Drug Policy, Police Reform, Criminal Legal Systems, Transparency, Efficiency, Prison Reform, Waste Management, Environmental Protections, Sustainability
A person-focused approach that centers the needs/wants/wellbeing of people before anything else is vital. Elected officials are meant to represent their constituents, not just the property value of their district. When it comes to policy, the impact on people, families, and communities should always take priority over the profits of select individuals. An elected official should also think of themselves as serving their constituents, not directing them. People need an advocate who will do everything they can to fight for them, not another person to tell them what to do.
I have experienced homelessness here in Albuquerque three times; the first time in 2017, after losing my financial aid to UNM; again in 2020, while going through a divorce; and most recently in 2022, after being labor trafficked. Each of those experiences was entirely distinct from the others. In 2017, I was a student, still, but sleeping on friend's couches until I was able to ; in 2020, I slept in basements or in backyards and I would walk to work for an hour every morning until I could afford an apartment; and in 2022, I slept in my car until a friend found out what had happened and let me stay at her family's AirBnB rent-free until I got back on my feet. In between those experiences, I worked as a harm reductionist serving people experiencing homelessness who also use drugs at a syringe service. I worked as a case manager for homeless and runaway youth. I worked a program director at a non-profit. I've donated my time as a policy analyst focusing on homelessness, housing, and justice reform. I've researched the housing crisis extensively, worked with cities across the state in an effort to improve encampment response, and throughout all of that, I have done everything in my power to improve the situation for the people of our community, housed and unhoused. Our city needs a leader who understands how each of the supports that have been put in place to manage homelessness need to integrated into each other in order to stop perpetuating the crisis. Together, we can do what it will take to actually resolve homelessness by housing people in houses and not just locking people in jail for a month at a time and pretending that it helped. We have the tools, the people, the budget, and the power to actually create a city without homelessness. We just need a leader with the will to get it done.
None at this time, but its early. I will post endorsements onto my campaign website.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Candidate Albuquerque City Council District 9 |
Personal |
Footnotes
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