At Animal Protection Voters (APV), we believe voters and elected officials can make a positive difference for animals. That’s why we reached out to candidates running for Mayor and City Council in three of the biggest cities in New Mexico—Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe—in the 2025 local elections to see which candidates will fight for animal protection policies and ordinances.

APV issues endorsements to candidates based on their experience, voting records and/or positions on animal protection issues revealed in questionnaire responses. Endorsements are not based on party affiliation.

City of Albuquerque Endorsements

APV is proud to announce endorsement of Tim Keller in his bid for re-election as Mayor of Albuquerque. Mayor Keller has a long track record of supporting public policies that help animals, particularly where they intersect with important issues like crime, public health and safety, and transparent governance. As Albuquerque Mayor, Keller spearheaded major improvements to the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department including lowering the euthanasia rate, eliminating a staggering 2,300 animal-call backlog, and signing a resolution condemning coyote-killing contests. More recently, Mayor Keller presided over the opening of Albuquerque’s first Preventative Pet Care Clinic, launching a mobile “We Care” unit, and strengthening the City’s ordinance against illegal animal sales. Prior to becoming Mayor, Keller earned a 100% Lifetime Score in APV’s Scorecards in the New Mexico State Senate, where he demonstrated his knowledge of the link between humane treatment of animals and the health and safety of communities. Going forward, the Mayor has committed to expanding access to affordable spay/neuter in Albuquerque—and across the state—by fighting to keep New Mexico’s Affordable Spay/Neuter Law (SB 57 passed in 2020) in place.

Turning now to Albuquerque races for City Council, APV was glad to identify animal-friendly candidates for each seat that is up for election this November 4th (only the odd-numbered seats on the nine-seat council are in play this year). APV endorses the following candidates for Albuquerque City Council:

• District 1 – Ahren Griego
• District 3 – Teresa Garcia
• District 5 – Athenea Allen and Dan Lewis (Dual Endorsement)
• District 7 – Tammy Fiebelkorn
• District 9 – Renee Grout

APV issued a dual endorsement to candidates running for City Council District 5 because both candidates have demonstrated a solid commitment to protecting animals from cruelty and suffering. The dual endorsement is not a matter of choosing one candidate over the other, but rather an acknowledgment that both are favorable choices for Albuquerque voters who want to cast their vote for humane-minded candidates.

A standout amongst this year’s endorsed candidates is incumbent City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, who has served District 7 since 2021. Councilor Fiebelkorn, a staunch advocate for all animals, including urban wildlife and pollinators, recently led the charge to crack down on illegal animal sales by strengthening enforcement of Albuquerque’s Humane and Ethical Animals Rules and Treatment (HEART) ordinance.

City of Las Cruces Endorsements

While the City of Las Cruces is not electing a mayor this cycle, three of the seven seats on City Council are up for election. APV has endorsed the following candidates running for Las Cruces City Council:

• District 3 – Michael James Harris
• District 5 – Becky Ann Corran
• District 6 – John P. Muñoz

Candidates Harris and Muñoz both said that if elected they would use their role to fight to keep New Mexico’s Affordable Spay/Neuter Law in place (through lobbying state lawmakers and pushing for the City’s formal endorsement of legislation to eliminate SB 57’s repeal date). At the local level, both candidates also pledged to expand access to affordable spay/neuter and prioritize submitting capital outlay requests to the State Legislature to fund local animal shelter and animal control infrastructure needs. Similarly, incumbent Becky Ann Corran, has an excellent record on animal issues and voiced strong support for expanding access to affordable spay/neuter if re-elected.

City of Santa Fe Endorsements

Santa Fe uses “ranked choice voting” to determine which candidate wins the election. Ranked choice voting, sometimes called “instant runoff voting” eliminates the need for a separate run-off election by having voters rank candidates on election day as they cast their ballot. Voters can rank as many, or as few, candidates as they wish.

In the first round of counting votes, only first-choice votes are tallied. If any candidate receives more than 50% of the first-choice votes, that candidate is declared the winner. If no candidate achieves a majority, the race proceeds to another round. The votes are re-tabulated with the newly re-allocated votes. This process repeats, with the last-place candidate being eliminated in each round, until one candidate receives a majority of the remaining votes and is declared the winner.

After careful review of candidates’ qualifications, records, and responses to APV questionnaires, APV endorses the following four candidates in the eight-way race for Mayor of Santa Fe, and would recommending ranking them in the following order:

• Rank #1 – Oscar Salazar Rodriguez
• Rank #2 – Justin S. Greene
• Rank #3 – JoAnne Vigil Coppler
• Rank #4 – Tarin J. Nix

We take it as a good sign that animal protection policy was identified as a top priority by all of the above-endorsed candidates.

In contrast, while all four City of Santa Fe council seats are up for election, only one candidate earned APV’s endorsement:

• District 2 – Elizabeth “Liz” Barrett

Barrett is a licensed social worker and has a deep understanding of how animal abuse intersects with domestic violence and child abuse. Best of luck to all the endorsed candidates!

Important Dates for Voters

• October 18–November 1: Expanded early voting at multiple locations across counties.
• November 1: Last day of Early Voting.
• November 4: New Mexico Local Election Day.

Please visit NMvote.org for more information about when, where, and how to cast your ballot – including requesting an absentee ballot, voting locations, viewing your sample ballot, and more. Thank you for using your vote to elect humane candidates.