Municipal candidate summary
January 05, 2010
Valencia! published a flurry of candidacy declarations as we received word of them. Here’s a summary:
City of Belen
The City of Belen’s current mayor, Ronnie Torres, decided not to run for reelection last year. While he expressed an interest in a council seat, he said he wouldn’t run for any position.
The candidates who filed today for mayor are Tibo Chavez Jr., Wayne Gallegos, Rudy Jaramillo, and Arturo Sais.
The race is guaranteed to be tough for all four candidates.
Gallegos and Jaramillo have their incumbency to help them out, with each serving on the Belen City Council. Gallegos was fire chief and has been very involved in older American issues. Jaramillo is a local restaurant owner.
Chavez has his strong family name, as well as his education and law firm. Sais has a lot of government experience, including his position as Peralta’s municipal clerk.
The city council has two seat up for election. Mary Aragon, Steve Castillo, Jerah Cordova, incumbent David Lopez and incumbent Terese Ulivarri will compete for the two seats.
The Belen council seats are at-large, not in districts.
The city’s municipal judge is up for election, too. Gilbert Garcia, Roy Gonzales and incumbent Kathy Savilla will compete for the seat.
Town of Peralta
The Town of Peralta has two council seats up for election. Incumbents Leon Otero and Joseph Romero both filed to run.
Edward Connelly Archuleta filed, too, according to the Valencia County News-Bulletin. Archuleta’s filing may have occurred shortly before the 5:00pm deadline.
The Peralta council seats are at-large, not in districts.
Village of Bosque Farms
The Village of Bosque Farms has two council seats up for election. Kevin Boyd, incumbent William Kennedy, Barbara Martinez-Keiser and Russell Walkup all filed to run for those two seats. Councilor Virgil Proctor didn’t file to run for reelection.
The Bosque Farms council seats are at-large, not in districts.
Village of Los Lunas
The Village of Los Lunas will have almost as compelling a mayoral race as the one in Belen.
Like Belen, Los Lunas doesn’t really have an incumbent mayor running for office. While Robert Vialpando is mayor, he was appointed to the position less than a year ago when former Mayor Louis Huning resigned.
Frank Otero, Gene Sais and Vialpando filed today to run for mayor.
All three appear to have a good chance to win. Vialpando has incumbency, both as mayor and as a village councilor prior to that. Otero is a Los Lunas school board member with a name in the community. Sais appears to be a well-liked local entrepreneur with ideas and the potential for a professionally-run campaign.
The Village of Los Lunas has two council seats up for election in two separate districts. Charles Griego filed for District 2 and has no challenger, meaning that race is over. Richard Lovato filed for District 4 and also has no challenger, which means he’ll be elected as long as he votes for himself.
The village’s municipal judge is also up for election. Two candidates filed: incumbent Jeff Aragon, who has already begun advertising and Stephanie Williams, who has a campaign website.
Posted in: Politics