Alexander Chambers, a local businessman who filed to run for election against incumbent Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett, has been disqualified from the race by the San Juan County Clerk’s Office.
“I believe this disqualification is both unconstitutional and un-American,” Chambers told the Tri-City Record. “It infringes upon my constitutional right as an American citizen to file and run for public office.”
Duckett will run in November unopposed.
At issue was the address on Chambers’ voter registration card. The card listed his address as 4B County Road 6427, Kirtland. The same address is on Chambers’ driver’s license, according to San Juan County Clerk Tanya Shelby.
In order for Chambers to qualify as a candidate in the Nov. 7 election, he had to have his voter’s registration updated with a Farmington address by Aug. 9, which Shelby said is the deadline based on requirements for Municipal Officer Election Day according to New Mexico Statute Section 1-22-3b.
“There are laws in place to ensure the people running for office live in and are vested in the communities they serve,” Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett said. “It’s important to understand the rules – especially with government there’s all of these rules and regulations. Understanding what makes me eligible for running for office. That is the first step in running for office in the community you want to serve.”
Duckett read the resolution passed by the Farmington City Council on June 13 to establish the municipal election. This is required by law under state statute. This are “statutory requirements for the state election, and the secretary of state has to do their own,” City Attorney Jennifer Breakell said.
The New Mexico Secretary of State’s office issued a state proclamation on Aug. 9, which stated the regular local elections would be on Nov. 7 in each county in the state. Per New Mexico Election Statute 1-22-3b, a person must have a voter registration, which has the correct residence on it by the date of the proclamation. It is below:
“A regular local election shall be a nonpartisan election, and the names of all candidates shall be listed on the ballot with no party or slate designation. No person shall become a candidate in a regular local election unless the person physically resides within the boundaries of the district or districted area in which the person desires to be elected or to represent and the person's record of voter registration shows that the person is both a qualified elector of the state and was registered to vote in the area to be elected to represent on the date the proclamation calling a local election is filed in the office of the secretary of state.”
Chambers said the date was not adequately publicized.
“The date of Aug. 9 was not properly advertised. That may be the standard operating procedure in every election,” he said. “I’m calling for an amendment to make changes to the law.”
He also said the process is too complicated.
“It needs to be amended for any American who wants to run for office. They should make it as clear as day for them so it is legal,” he said. “They make it secret. They don’t properly advertise this stuff.”
“I’m calling on San Juan County commissioners, the state and even the city” to allow for the amendment to change the law.
The city’s attorney counted his claim, stating that the state law is out of the city’s hands.
“That’s a state law, and the city of Farmington has no ability to amend that law,” Breakell said, adding only the state legislative body would be able to amend the law.
Chambers said he lives in Farmington at No. 2, 2515 Lee Ave., and he has the utility bills to prove it. He also said he went to the post office to update his voter registration.
“I simply went to the post office. They gave me a new voter registration card.
I gave it back to the postal worker, from there I don’t know,” Chambers said. “My issue lies with, I never got confirmation it was updated.”
Chambers, who owns Chambers’ Steakhouse, said “I did get very busy. I just assumed they updated and that was that.”
His voter registration was not updated, because the San Juan County Clerk’s Office never received the card from the post office.
“It is the candidates’ responsibility to make sure their name, their address and their voter registration is current and up to date,” Shelby said, adding there are several ways to update a voter registration.
“You can do it online, at the post office, you can walk in,” she said.
Chambers insinuated there were errors on the part of the clerk’s office.
“I do have a right to run for public office. It’s a fundamental component of our democracy,” he said. “It should not be hampered by bureaucratic oversights and administrative errors.”
He also said he called the clerk’s office for general information.
“There was one time in July, I called the San Juan County Clerk’s Office,” he said. “She said as long your address is in San Juan County, you should be fine. That was the general information I got.”
| Seat candidate is seeking | Candidate |
| Aztec Commission District 1 | Austin Raymond Randall |
| Aztec Commission District 3 | Michael A. Padilla Sr. |
| Aztec Commission District 3 | Eduardo G. Chavez |
| Aztec Municipal Judge | Carlton P. Gray |
| City of Bloomfield Council | Michael James Brown |
| City of Bloomfield Council | Dale L. Walls |
| City of Bloomfield Council | John A. Mohler |
| City of Bloomfield Council | Kelly J. Burkholder |
| City of Bloomfield Council | Lucas Aaron Almeida Barnett (Disqualified) |
| City of Farmington Mayor | Nate Duckett |
| City of Farmington Mayor | Alexander Bryon Chambers (Disqualified) |
| Farmington City Council District 3 | Jeanine Bingham Kelly |
| Farmington City Council District 4 | Janis Jakino |
| Farmington City Council District 4 | Prudence Lynn Brady |
| Farmington Municipal Judge | Robert E. Miller |
| Farmington Municipal Judge | James J. Rempe |
| Farmington Municipal Judge | Rena Scott |
| Farmington Municipal Judge Part-time | Robert Frey |
| Town of Kirtland Council | Ross Trujillo Jr. |
| Town of Kirtland Council | Jason T. Heslop |
| Town of Kirtland Council | Rachael Erin Banks |
| Aztec School Board District 1 | Amanda D. Sutherland |
| Aztec School Board District 4 | Lacy Lynn Newland |
| Aztec School Board District 5 | Marie Burnett Buchholz |
| Aztec School Board District 5 | Joe A. Hubbard (dropped out of race) |
| Bloomfield School Board District 1 | Sue Ann Finch |
| Bloomfield School Board District 3 | Dale J. Maes |
| Farmington School Board District 1 | Stephanie Thompson |
| Farmington School Board District 4 | Krista Lee McWilliams |
| Farmington School Board District 5 | Joan V. Vallee |
| Farmington School Board District 5 | Lisa Lynn Maxwell |
| Central Consolidated School District 2 | Gary J. Montoya |
| Central Consolidated School District 2 | Hoskie Benally Jr. |
| Central Consolidated School District 3 | Matthew D. Tso |
| Central Consolidated School District 5 | Suzette J. Haskie-Oberly |
| San Juan College Board District 1 | Pete K. Atcitty III |
| San Juan College Board District 1 | GloJean B. Todacheene |
| San Juan College Board District 1 | Ray Begaye |
| San Juan College Board District 1 | Hoskie Benally Jr. |
| San Juan College Board District 1 | Matthew D. Tso |
| San Juan College Board District 5 | Judy M. Hale |
| San Juan College Board District 5 | Beverly D. Taylor |
| San Juan College Board District 5 | Catherine Thomas-Kemp |
| San Juan Soil and Water District Position 1 and 2 District Supervisor (Land owner) | Kandy Lynn LeMoine |
| San Juan Soil and Water District Position 1 and 2 District Supervisor (Land owner) | DeAnne L. McKee |
| San Juan Soil and Water District Position 1 and 2 District Supervisor (Land owner) | Gentry M. Sterling |
| San Juan Soil and Water District Position 1 and 2 District Supervisor (Land owner) | Christopher L. Culpepper |
| San Juan Soil and Water District Position 1 and 2 District Supervisor (Land owner) | Leo Pacheco |
| San Juan Soil and Water District Position 1 and 2 District Supervisor (Land owner) | Cash A. Carruth |
| San Juan Soil and Water Position 5 District Supervisor | Paul C. Bandy |
| San Juan Soil and Water Position 5 District Supervisor | Catherine Thomas-Kemp |
That would not be standard operating procedure, according to Shelby, who said her staff is trained and told to “look up the voter, ask what position they are running for, and make sure their voter registration is correct, and they live in the district. We are there to help the people – to prevent this from happening,” she said.
“I’m not going away. I will escalate my voice in the community, so the leaders are held accountable,” Chambers said.
He was not the only candidate disqualified from the upcoming election. Lucas Aaron Almeida-Barnett filed to run for Bloomfield City Council’s position three seat, and he was disqualified for not being registered to vote by the Aug. 9 deadline, according to Shelby.
Fifty-one candidates who filled out the required paperwork to run in the municipal elections, and Shelby said she only had to disqualify two.
