A screen capture from Mayor Martin Chavez's political Web site.

A screen capture from Mayor Martin Chavez's political Web site.

ALBUQUERQUE — Mayor Martin Chavez, Albuquerque’s conspicuously all-but-declared candidate for re-election, looks like he’s inching closer to declaring his official ambition for a fourth-term as mayor.

According to his political Web site, the issue seems settled.

“Paid for by Marty Chavez for mayor” is the tagline at the end of the lone web page on the site.

Mark Fleischer, Chavez’s campaign operative, tells NMI that the Web site was updated “a couple weeks ago” with the new disclosure. Fleicher adds that the public financing the mayor has already qualified for is footing the bill for the site — the first indication that Chavez is drawing upon the funds.

Although he insisted the subtle change on the site did not indicate a formal announcement of a reelection campaign, when asked about language on the site that promised to “keep you updated on the campaign,” Fleischer concedes, “I’ll give you that.”

Previously, martychavez.com was up and running back in late 2007 for Chavez’s brief bid for U.S. Senate. Back then, “Paid for by New Mexicans for Marty Chavez” was the tagline.

While Chavez has refused to formally state his intentions one way or the other, his actions point to an almost certain run for what would be a fourth term as mayor.

After aborting his Senate bid last year, which many predicted would require a bloody and coffer-draining primary battle against fellow Democrat Tom Udall, Chavez sucessfully challenged the city’s mayoral term limits in court in early 2008.

Later that year, his Web site was clearly campaign oriented but didn’t say what office Chavez was seeking — the political ambiguity remains with the words “Marty for New Mexico” still prominently displayed on the site — which  in conjunction with a late 2008 fundraiser had tongues wagging about his intentions.

Then, in March of this year, Chavez qualified for public financing for the mayor’s race, making a big media splash when he gathered more than enough $5 qualifying contributions in a couple of weeks. He was subsequently given $328,000 by the city to run a campaign, along with the two declared candidates who also qualified — ex-New Mexico Senate leader Richard Romero and two-term state Rep. Richard “R.J.” Berry.

Moreover, Chavez has been acting like an official candidate; and he  told 770 KKOB A.M. news reporter Peter St. Cyr in June that he’d make some kind of official announcement in July — “absolutely.”

That official announcement could come in the next week and a half, since July 6 marks the beginning of the 90-day countdown to Election Day, which is October 6th. Plus, Chavez’s second quarter financial reports are due to the Albuquerque city clerk next week.

But the announcement will likely be anti-climatic given the above factors, plus the recent disclosure on his Web site.

“Marty Chavez for Mayor,” as  Fleischer points out, is also the name of the bank account in which the public funds were deposited and now being drawn upon. A message on the site also thanks those who helped him qualify for both the October ballot and public financing.