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Albuquerque City Councilor Debbie O’Malley announced today that she is withdrawing from the Albuquerque mayor’s race.
“This process was a difficult undertaking, and I am grateful to so many people — supporters, volunteers, friends, my campaign staff and family,” O’Malley said in a statement. “I can’t thank them enough for their time and energy.”
Despite having more than 200 supporters and volunteers who gave both seed money and time, she determined that she was unlikely to raise the 3,280 $5 contributions necessary to qualify for public financing.
“We looked at it from every angle,” O’Malley told the Independent. “A lot of people said, ‘Keep trying, keep trying,’ but I don’t want to have people continue on my behalf if it’s not going to happen. It’s very time intensive.”
Because she successfully ran for City Council in 2007 using public financing, O’Malley said she knew it was going to be hard but didn’t anticipate how difficult it would be to collect that many donations in six weeks. On average, she said, one person can bring in about five contributions per outing. The window in which a candidate can solicit the contributions is Feb. 17 to March 31.
“We need to have a good discussion about the time period,” O’Malley said. “…Whether or not it’s possible [given the window of six weeks] for anyone other than an incumbent or someone with high name recognition to run for mayor using public financing. Was it doable for me? Yes, but I feel I would need at least another month. Maybe two. ”
O’Malley urged her supporters in a statement to help other candidates qualify for public financing before the March 31 deadline, because she believes strongly that the city deserves a choice for mayor. She said she hoped the remaining candidates are successful in their efforts.
Beyond that, O’Malley told the Independent that she wouldn’t be endorsing any of the candidates, although she couldn’t predict the future. For now, she said, her priority is to continue to represent her district as a full-time councilor for the remaining three years of her second term.
Remaining in the race to use public financing are former Albuquerque state Sen. Richard Romero, who has turned in 1,780 contributions; City Councilor Michael Cadigan, who turned in 469 contributions on Friday; state Rep. Richard Berry, who hasn’t turned in any as of yet; and Mayor Marty Chavez, who has not officially declared his candidacy but turned in slightly more than 5,000 contributions on March 6.
All of those contributions have to be verified with the city’s registered voter list–which the Albuquerque City Clerk’s Office is currently doing.
