Rio Rancho residents deserve open discussion about how power is exercised in our local government — especially when it comes to elections.
Since assuming office in 2014, Mayor Gregg Hull has used his title as mayor to regularly endorse candidates for city, county and state office. Over the course of his tenure, he has issued at least 17 public endorsements, with the vast majority of those candidates ultimately winning their races. Most recently, he has endorsed Paul Wymer for Rio Rancho mayor.
When endorsements consistently come from the sitting mayor, are widely publicized and appear to carry significant weight in determining election outcomes, it is fair — and necessary — for voters to ask whether the mayor’s office itself has become a source of electoral influence rather than simply a steward of public service…