OPINON: Far left politics are ruining Albuquerque, and the country is beginning to notice

By Amy Varela, NM GOP Chairwoman

Albuquerque is on the brink of unprecedented disaster brought by sanctuary city policies. These policies have been destroying our beautiful city—just ask anyone who lives here. Republican, Democrat, or Independent—everyone knows Albuquerque is in bad shape and is being taken in the wrong direction by our far-left mayor, Tim Keller.

That is backed up by endless local news coverage, jaw-dropping statistics, and ranking after ranking that show just how dangerous Albuquerque has become under Tim Keller’s nearly 8-year tenure as mayor.

On Tuesday, December 9, Albuquerque voters will head to the polls and vote in a high-stakes runoff election that will determine who leads the city for the next four years. With a crowded field of candidates, Incumbent Mayor Tim Keller failed to win outright on election day four weeks ago and is now running against former sheriff Darren White in a one-on-one runoff matchup, and there could not possibly be more at stake.

In the 8 years Keller has led Albuquerque, the city has accumulated an endless array of problems, such as soaring crime, homelessness, drugs, a lackluster economy, and a public education system that’s considered one of the worst in the country.

Just how bad are these problems? Bad. In fact, they’ve never been worse. The violent crime rate in Albuquerque more than triples the national median, while the property crime rate more than doubles it. When measuring crimes per square mile,

Albuquerque is almost 7 times the national median. While the state of New Mexico consistently ranks among the worst states in the U.S. for crime, Albuquerque has even higher crime rates than the rest of the state by considerable margins, not to mention the epidemic Albuquerque currently has with juvenile crime, which has skyrocketed out of control. If that doesn’t sound bad enough, consider this: the liberal governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, deployed the National Guard to Albuquerque this year to help deal with the rise in crime and drug-related emergencies. So, we can finally put this issue to bed—Tim Keller’s record on crime has been nothing short of horrendous.

Unfortunately, that’s not all he has failed at. Keller’s handling of the homelessness issue has been abysmal, as there are nearly 3,000 homeless individuals in Albuquerque, which is an 8% increase from last year. Since Tim Keller has been in office, the homeless population in Albuquerque has more than doubled, and our homelessness rate is more than double the national average. The drug issue in this city is also getting out of control, with staggering numbers of overdoses and drug-related crimes that are crippling our communities.

Despite the state of our city, one of Tim Keller’s core campaign promises is his refusal to work with federal immigration authorities. He is actually proud of the fact that illegal immigrants can commit crimes and be arrested in Albuquerque and still be protected from federal authorities. Everyone knows sanctuary city policies provide criminals with a safe haven to wreak havoc on communities and law-abiding citizens, but these policies are even more dangerous when they are implemented by far-left politicians who are allergic to common sense, like Tim Keller.

Tuesday’s runoff election is arguably the most consequential election the city of Albuquerque has had in its history. A third term and another four years of Tim Keller’s radical left agenda will make Albuquerque unlivable, unvisitable, and will scare away countless small businesses that cannot prosper anymore. 

This opinion was written by Chairwoman Amy Barela of the New Mexico GOP.

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