While Albuquerque does have a republican mayor, the fact is, two dems split the ticket, one as a dem, one as an independent. When that happened, the republican came out with the majority. However, when tallied, the two dems had the majority of votes. Albuquerque is still dominated by leftists and center left.
The truly sad thing here is that many vote Dem because that’s how they always voted, and that’s how the family always voted before them. Their family values, ideology and faith always lean conservative, but they vote Dem.