Louie Sanchez (Albuquerque City Council, New Mexico)

This candidate participated in a 2025 battleground election. Click here to read more about that election.

This page was last updated during the official's most recent election or appointment. Please contact us with any updates.

Louie Sanchez

Nonpartisan

Albuquerque City Council District 1

Tenure

2022 - Present

Term ends

2025

Years in position

3

Predecessor

Lan Sena

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 2, 2021

Contact

Official website

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Louie Sanchez is a member of the Albuquerque City Council in New Mexico, representing District 1. He assumed office on January 1, 2022. His current term ends on December 31, 2025.

Sanchez ran for election for Mayor of Albuquerque in New Mexico. He lost in the general election on November 4, 2025.

2025 battleground election

See also: Mayoral election in Albuquerque, New Mexico (2025)

Ballotpedia identified the Nov. 4, 2025, general election as a battleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.

Incumbent Mayor Tim Keller and Darren White advanced from the nonpartisan election for mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to a runoff election on Dec. 9. Six candidates ran in the general election on Nov. 4, 2025. Keller, Mayling Armijo, Louie Sanchez, Alexander Uballez, and White led in media coverage and fundraising ahead of the election.

KOAT's Nick Catlin wrote, "A KOAT-Albuquerque Journal Poll found 37% of voters remain undecided less than a month until choosing who will lead the Duke City next."

Keller, who was first elected mayor in 2017, ran on his record. According to his campaign website, "Tim Keller is running for reelection for two clear reasons. First, he’s done the real work to repair decades-long challenges holding our city back. ... Second, he’s running to stand up to Trump’s policies and the harmful cuts that threaten our families and safety." His campaign website also said, "Under Tim’s visionary leadership, Albuquerque has made historic progress across key issues" like homelessness with the creation of the Community Safety Department and the Gateway Center.

The challengers positioned themselves against Keller on issues like homelessness and crime.

Armijo was a U.S. Navy veteran and executive director of a small business development company. She was Sandoval County deputy manager and Bernalillo County director of economic development. Armijo said, "My vision for Albuquerque is grounded in safer neighborhoods, stronger small businesses, and a city government that actually delivers for the people who live here."

Sanchez was a city councilor, business owner, and retired police officer. His campaign website described his vision as "Focused on Safer Communities, a Stronger Economy, and Real Homelessness Solutions—with a commitment to bold, collaborative leadership that delivers results."

Uballez served as a U.S. attorney during President Joe Biden's (D) administration. He resigned at President Donald Trump's (R) request in February 2025. Uballez said, "While we are making the streets safe, we need to get out of the way of development so that people and [small] businesses, entertainment venues, restaurants, bars and affordable housing for people to live near all of those things can exist here in Albuquerque so we can keep people here, so we can draw people here."

White was head of the New Mexico State Police and sheriff of Bernalillo County. On his campaign website, White said, "I have a proven record of fighting crime, protecting our communities, and upholding law and order. I’ll unshackle the police, end Mayor Keller’s failed sanctuary policies, clean up homeless encampments, and restore safety to Albuquerque’s streets, parks, and businesses while cutting government waste and making our city a place where families and businesses can thrive again."

While the position is officially nonpartisan, local media reported some candidates' party affiliations, and other candidates had stated their own party affiliation or political philosophy. Keller, Armijo, Sanchez, and Uballez were affiliated with the Democratic Party, and White called himself a fiscal conservative.

Keller was the only candidate who qualified for public financing. Keller received $734,000 in taxpayer dollars toward his campaign after securing at least 3,779 $5 donations. According to the city's campaign finance system, as of September 29, 2025, Keller had raised $23,000 apart from public financing, Sanchez had raised $224,000, White had raised $216,000, Uballez had raised $203,000, and Armijo had raised $110,000. Eddie Varela, who had raised $38,000, was also running. Daniel Chavez dropped out of the race in September 2025, but still appeared on the ballot.

These numbers did not account for spending from satellite groups known as measure finance committees. As of September 29, a measure finance committee supporting Keller's re-election had raised $155,000, and a measure finance committee supporting Armijo had raised $145,000.

The filing deadline for publicly financed candidates was July 7, 2025, and the filing deadline for privately financed candidates was August 26, 2025. The write-in filing deadline was September 2, 2025.

Elections

2025

See also: Mayoral election in Albuquerque, New Mexico (2025)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Mayor of Albuquerque

Incumbent Tim Keller and Darren White are running in the general runoff election for Mayor of Albuquerque on December 9, 2025.

		Candidate
		Tim Keller (Nonpartisan)
		Darren White (Nonpartisan)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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General election

General election for Mayor of Albuquerque

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Albuquerque on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tim Keller (Nonpartisan)	36.6	39,458
✔		Darren White (Nonpartisan)	31.3	33,682
		Alexander Uballez (Nonpartisan)	18.2	19,648
		Louie Sanchez (Nonpartisan)	6.6	7,154
		Mayling Armijo (Nonpartisan)	5.6	5,977
		Eddie Varela (Nonpartisan)	1.6	1,758

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source	Total votes: 107,677
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Patrick Sais (Nonpartisan)
• Alpana Adair (Nonpartisan)
• Brian Fejer (Nonpartisan)
• Daniel Chavez (Nonpartisan) (Unofficially withdrew)
• Adeo Herrick (Nonpartisan)

Election campaign finance

Candidates in this election submitted campaign finance reports to the City Clerk's Office. Click here to access those reports.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.

• City of Albuquerque Campaign Finance System

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2021

See also: City elections in Albuquerque, New Mexico (2021)

General election

General election for Albuquerque City Council District 1

Louie Sanchez defeated incumbent Lan Sena in the general election for Albuquerque City Council District 1 on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Louie Sanchez (Nonpartisan)	55.1	6,436
	Submit photo	Lan Sena (Nonpartisan)	44.9	5,236

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,672
= 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.
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2020

See also: United States Senate election in New Mexico, 2020

United States Senate election in New Mexico, 2020 (June 2 Republican primary)

United States Senate election in New Mexico, 2020 (June 2 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Ben Ray Luján defeated Mark Ronchetti and Bob Walsh in the general election for U.S. Senate New Mexico on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Ray Luján (D)	51.7	474,483
		Mark Ronchetti (R)	45.6	418,483
		Bob Walsh (L)	2.6	24,271

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 917,237
= 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.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Ben Ray Luján advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Ray Luján	100.0	225,082

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 225,082
= 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

• Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D)
• Giovanni Haqani (D)
• Andrew Perkins (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Mark Ronchetti defeated Elisa Martinez and Gavin Clarkson in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Ronchetti	56.5	89,216
		Elisa Martinez	26.1	41,240
		Gavin Clarkson	17.4	27,471

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 157,927
= 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

• Mick Rich (R)
• Rick Montoya (R)
• Louie Sanchez (R)

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Bob Walsh advanced from the Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico on June 2, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bob Walsh	100.0	1,454

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,454
= 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.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Louie Sanchez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign ads

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Louie Sanchez while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

2021

Louie Sanchez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Louie Sanchez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

See also

2025 Elections

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Candidate

Mayor of Albuquerque

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Officeholder

Albuquerque City Council District 1

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Lan Sena	Albuquerque City Council, District 1 2022–Present	Succeeded by NA