Commentary by Pat Davis, City Desk
The website mannyforsenate.com still promotes Manny Gonzales III’s one-month campaign as a Republican candidate for US Senate in Washington D.C. The campaign Facebook page he used last month to announce his failure to qualify for that race still bears the URL ending in “MannyforABQ,” an apparent holdover from his failed 2021 run as a Democrat to be mayor in Albuquerque.
Now Gonzales, the former Democratic sheriff turned Republican, is running for State Senate to serve in Santa Fe. It’s been less than a month since he failed to secure the minimum number of qualifying signatures (just 2% of all Republicans registered to vote statewide) to appear on the Republican ballot for US Senate.
According to campaign finance records filed with the New Mexico Secretary of State, Gonzales filed to run for office on March 4. He is seeking a place on the Republican primary ballot in State Senate District 23, located on the Westside, against Terry Lynn Aragon.
To make it to the November ballot against Democrat incumbent Harold Pope, Jr. Gonzales must get 3% of Republican voters in the district to sign a nominating petition for him. For those keeping track, that’s a larger percentage of Republicans than he failed to secure in January.
So far, none of the candidates for this race have reported any contributions for the 2024 race. But in 2020, Pope raised over $163,000 in his campaign for State Senate when he defeated longtime Republican incumbent Senator Sander Rue by 3%, or about 1,300 votes.
Candidates have until March 12 to secure qualifying nominating signatures from voters in their district in order to appear on the primary ballot in June.
Gonzales became a high-profile Democratic sheriff after meeting with then-President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr, and agreeing to serve as a law enforcement advisor to Trump’s Department of Justice.
Last year it was revealed that Gonzales was involved in a federal machine gun trafficking case that resulted in the indictment of law enforcement officials and a local Albuquerque gun store dealer. Gonzales was not charged.
Gonzales was denied public financing in his campaign for mayor of Albuquerque after the city’s ethics board and city clerk determined that his campaign had forged supporter signatures.
Maybe the third time’s the charm for Manny.