Big Turnout at Richard Romero's Mayoral Exploratory Fundraiser

Richard Romero talks about his Barelas roots at 1/1 event

The festive New Year's Day celebration and fundraiser for Richard Romero's exploratory mayoral candidacy drew an enthusiastic and diverse crowd of approximately 250 people to his home in downtown Albuquerque. Folks packed the backyard, multi-level decks, entryways, kitchen and dining room of the Romero residence to commune with like-minded supporters, dig into the refreshments, and support a run for Albuquerque Mayor by Romero.

Sen. Cisco McSorley speaks to crowd

If he decides to run, Romero will do so as a publicly financed candidate. As part of that process, he's raising "seed money" now to help pay for expenses associated with gathering the $5 donations and petition signatures he'll need to get on the ballot.

Richard Romero discusses his possible candidacy

In this phase, supporters can donate up to $100 per person, and Romero can raise up to $33,280 to cover initial exploratory committee expenses. This is the first Albuquerque mayoral election where the public financing option is available to candidates. So far, one electoral cycle for City Council races featured voluntary public campaign funding.

Packed in upstairs and down

Richard is a strong supporter of clean election reform and public financing for elections -- local, statewide and national. Check out his excellent op-ed column in the New Year's Day edition of the Albuquerque Journal for more on his views about the importance of getting big money -- and its highly corrosive impact -- out of politics. At his fundraiser, Romero mentioned how exciting it would be to concentrate on meeting with ordinary citizens during a publicly funded campaign, compared with the distasteful experience of fundraising in a Congressional race like the one in which he participated in NM-01 in 2004:

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, in nine out of 10 Congressional races, the candidate who spent the most won. This fact drives an escalating money-raising race that forces candidates and our elected representatives to spend ever-increasing amounts of their time seeking campaign cash from wealthy donors — instead of meeting with their constituents, the voters. This all calls into question just whose interests they will really represent once elected.

When I ran for the Congress I spent endless hours isolated in a room on the phone calling potential donors from across the country. I would have much preferred talking to local voters, the very people I hoped to represent in Congress, instead of spending a majority of my time dialing for dollars. I simply don't believe that's what the Founders had in mind for our democracy.

Romero formerly served as President Pro-Tem of the New Mexico Senate and was also an APS teacher and principle for many years. In fact, he was introduced at Thursday's event (see video below) by Teresa Brito-Asenap, an educator with APS and a former Co-Chair of AI Albuquerque Interfaith, who was honored with a high-profile speaking slot prior to Barack Obama's acceptance speech in Denver during the Democratic Convention.

Teresa Brito-Asenap talks about community organizing for Romero

We also heard remarks supportive of Romero's candidacy from State Senator Cisco McSorley and Rep. Mimi Steward, both strong supporters of clean election reform in the Legislature, as well as Senator-Elect Eric Griego -- who as a City Councilor was the original sponsor of the Albuquerque public financing initiative that won support from 70% of Albuquerque voters in 2005. Other dignitaries in the crowd included former U.S. Senator Fred Harris, Senator-Elect Tim Keller, Rep.-Elect Ben Rodefer, City Councilor Rey Garduno and many other prominent political figures. There were also lots of just folks from all walks of life and many who had supported Romero in past races.

Romero mingles

One reason Romero cited for his possible candidacy is that he believes he has the negotiation skills and temperament needed to get people working together on the city's problems -- instead of battling on personal or strictly partisan grounds. He described his and his family's deep roots in New Mexico, and emphasized how passionately he feels about having an opportunity to help our community during a very challenging economic time. Romero expressed confidence in the prospects of renewable energy development projects to create good-paying jobs here, and turn Albuquerque into an major player in the green energy movement. Improving the education system would be another of Romero's top priorities.

Sen.-Elect Eric Griego and Rep. Mimi Stewart

Judging by the large and supportive turnout at the New Year's Day fundraiser, there's strong and deep support from many quarters for a Richard Romero run for Mayor of Albuquerque. If you'd like to join the throng of early supporters, you can donate up to $100 in seed money during the next 40 days:

Send a check payable to:
Richard Romero Exploratory Committee
907 Silver Ave SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Contributions may not exceed $100. The City of Albuquerque requires you to include your name, address, phone, occupation and employer. Please also include your email address.

All photos by M.E. Broderick.

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