Rio Rancho Business Owner Files For Mayor, Joins Growing Field

Aleitress Owens Smith formally entered the Rio Rancho mayoral race on December 22, 2025 by filing the required paperwork for the March 3, 2026 municipal election. Owens Smith will compete against a field that already includes Sandoval County Commissioner Mike Meek and Rio Rancho Governing Body member Paul Wymer, setting up a contest between established local officials and a newcomer from the private sector.

Owens Smith is the owner of Aleitress Elevate Together Magazine and Aleitress Mobile Restrooms. She moved to Rio Rancho in 2012 and has worked in multiple roles prior to launching her businesses. Her campaign materials list priorities of safety, affordability and accountability. Owens Smith is a first time candidate, and she has noted a personal stake in local schools because her child attends Rio Rancho Public Schools.

The race now presents voters with distinct choices about experience and perspective. Meek and Wymer bring experience from county and municipal government respectively, while Owens Smith brings a small business perspective and a campaign focused on household concerns. For residents, the choice could affect city approaches to public safety funding, municipal budgeting that shapes housing and utility costs, and oversight of city operations and transparency.

Owens Smith’s emphasis on affordability will resonate with families facing rising costs of living, and her background as a local entrepreneur may frame her approach to business permitting and local economic development. Her focus on safety may lead to debates about police staffing, emergency services and neighborhood initiatives. As a candidate with a child in the local school system, education and family services could figure prominently in campaign conversations.

With the election little more than two months away, candidates will need to organize outreach, clarify policy proposals and engage voters across the city. For Sandoval County residents and Rio Rancho households, the contest will determine the leadership that guides municipal responses to daily concerns and long term planning. Voters should watch for candidate forums, policy outlines and municipal budget discussions in the weeks ahead as the campaign progresses toward the March 3 election.