Rio Rancho Swears In City Councilors, Municipal Judge After March Election

Municipal Judge G. Robert Cook took his fifth oath of office at Rio Rancho City Hall on Thursday evening, joined by District 3 Councilor Bob Tyler and District 5 Councilor Karissa Culbreath in a public ceremony that formalized three new four-year terms won in the March 3 municipal election.

The 5 p.m. ceremony at 3200 Civic Center Circle drew family and friends of the officials, who filled the council chambers gallery before the governing body's regular meeting began. New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge J. Miles Hanisee administered the oath to Cook, who drew 9,550 votes citywide on March 3. Court of Appeals Judge Shammara H. Henderson swore in Culbreath, who defeated Calvin Ducane Ward in the District 5 race. Tyler, who first joined the council in March 2018, secured his District 3 seat with 1,978 votes.

Mayor Gregg Hull invited each official to speak after taking their oath. Cook, characteristically brief, said he didn't have a lot to say but expressed gratitude to Rio Rancho residents for their support across his decades on the bench. Tyler thanked his family, noting that his 19-year-old daughter cast her first-ever vote during the election. "Without everyone, we can't make this city a great place to live," he said.

Culbreath, who was appointed to the District 5 seat in December 2020 and first elected in March 2022, acknowledged the personal cost of public service before thanking her family for "giving me permission" to run again. "This time I ran with my eyes wide open, knowing what was ahead of me, knowing the opportunities in front of us but also knowing the challenges," she said.

District 2 Councilor Jeremy Lenentine, who won his seat with 1,255 votes, was out of town and did not attend the ceremony. According to Mayor Hull, Lenentine will be sworn in at the City Clerk's Office on Monday. The terms of all four officials formally begin April 1.

The swearing-in came ahead of a mayoral runoff between District 4 Councilor Paul Wymer, who led the March 3 field with 6,240 votes, and Alexandria Piland, ward chair for the Democratic Party of Sandoval County, who finished second with 3,670 votes out of 13,757 cast in the mayoral race. Turnout across the full municipal election reached 21,213 ballots from an eligible pool of 148,083 voters, with 195 of 201 precincts fully reporting.