Early Voting Underway in Rio Rancho's First Mayoral Runoff in Years

Paul Wymer's 2,575-vote lead over Alexandria Piland means less than it sounds: only 13,746 of Rio Rancho's 81,470 registered voters cast ballots in the March 3 primary, and the winner of the April 14 runoff will be decided by whoever moves more of that untapped electorate to the polls.

Early voting opened Tuesday at four sites across the city, with campaign signs for both candidates visible outside Loma Colorado Main Library on the first morning. The window runs through Saturday, April 11, three days before the official runoff Election Day.

The race was triggered by Rio Rancho's 50% threshold rule. No candidate in the six-person March 3 field cleared it, so the top two finishers advanced. Wymer, a District 4 City Councilor and facilities planner at UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center, led with 45.4% (6,237 votes). Piland, who resigned as chair of the Sandoval County Democratic Party to enter the race, finished second at 26.6% (3,662 votes). Sandoval County Commissioner Michael Meek was third at 11.3%, followed by Zach Darden (8.7%), Corrine Rios (6.7%), and Aleitress Owens-Smith (1.4%).

The winner inherits an office shaped by 12 years of Mayor Gregg Hull, who declined a fourth term to pursue the Republican nomination for New Mexico governor and earned 56.9% of delegate votes at the state party's pre-primary convention. Hull doubled the police budget and drove pro-business development policy over his tenure. The incoming mayor will hold direct authority over public safety staffing, water infrastructure spending, development approval timelines, and the capital budget in a city of more than 112,000 people that continues to rank among New Mexico's fastest-growing.

Wymer and Piland diverge sharply on how to use those powers. Wymer has made road improvements, water line replacements, and public safety staffing his core priorities, drawing endorsements from both the Rio Rancho police and fire unions. Piland, a former English instructor of roughly 25 years who taught at Central New Mexico Community College, has campaigned on requiring infrastructure planning to precede development approvals rather than trail them, along with greater leadership accountability in how growth decisions get made. She carries the endorsement of IBEW 611. The race is officially nonpartisan, though the partisan backgrounds of both candidates have been a recurring topic throughout the campaign.

Turnout in the March 3 primary was 16.9%, slightly above the 14.2% recorded in the prior comparable election, according to City Clerk Noel Davis. That means Wymer's current advantage over Piland represents just 3.2% of the city's entire registered voter base — a margin a modest shift in runoff participation could erase.

Early voting runs through April 11 at four locations: the Broadmoor Senior Center/Clerk's Annex at 3421 Broadmoor Blvd. (Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus Saturdays April 4 and April 11), Loma Colorado Main Library at 755 Loma Colorado Blvd., Sabana Grande at 4114 Sabana Grande Ave. SE, and The Hub at Enchanted Hills at 7845 Enchanted Hills Blvd. On Election Day, 14 Voting Convenience Centers open at 7 a.m. across Rio Rancho. Same-day voter registration is available at all early voting sites.