In the fourth installment of a series looking at Albuquerque’s mayoral candidates, KUNM’s Daniel Montano spoke with former U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, Alex Uballez, who said his choice to run for mayor came from a desire to continue serving the public after leaving his position as the top federal prosecutor in the state.
KUNM: First off, let’s get into why you decided to run and when that decision happened, and what’s been happening since you first made that decision.
ALEX UBALLEZ: So, as you know, I was the United States Attorney here in the District of New Mexico, and before that, a career public servant who made his career in public safety. And so you know, when I was asked to leave the office back on Valentine’s Day of this year, I was trying to find something where I can keep giving back to the community. Everything that I’ve done over my career, from when I began as a crimes against children prosecutor at the DA ‘s office, to being a cartel investigator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, to taking the helm of that office and serving the people of New Mexico in all law enforcement capacities federally, has been geared towards the maximum amount I can give back to the community. And for me, this decision was difficult. Former United States Attorneys have many options. If you look at my colleagues across the nation, many of them end up at large firms making lots of money, or leading nonprofits. There are hundreds of things that a U.S. attorney can do that’s a lot less stressful, pays a lot more money, that’s a lot better for the work-life balance than running for mayor. But for me, like I said, every decision I’ve made has been towards the aim of doing the most good for the most people. And so while I’ve seen, you know, the criminal justice system, both in the state side and the federal side, where what you see there is, there are times when the criminal justice system is the right response. It is the right approach. There are really, you know, dangerous folk out there. There are people like the cartel leaders that we have targeted and charged who really make money off of the misery of other people. There are people who take advantage of our systems and exploit people like the cops in Albuquerque police who we took down when we investigated 30 years of corruption in their DWI unit…