New councilor, new district judge; mayoral runoff imminent
Folks crammed into the City Council Chambers after the polls closed March 3 to hear the unofficial results of the City of Gallup’s Municipal Officer Election.
Four positions were about to be decided: Dist. 2 Councilor, Dist. 4 Councilor, Municipal Judge, and the Mayor of Gallup.
Three of those elections delivered a clear winner, but a runoff will likely be required to determine the new mayor.
City Clerk Alfred Abeita said the official canvass will be held before the McKinley County Board of Commissioners March 10. Based on the results, if a runoff election is required, it is slated for March 31.
DISTRICT 2 COUNCILOR
In a close race, newcomer Michael Schaaf defeated incumbent councilor Allan Landavazo by a margin of 39 votes - 348 to 309.
Schaaf, who currently serves on the Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education, said watching the results come in was exciting since it was close.
“I hope I can do a good job and represent my constituents well,” Schaaf said. “It was a good race.”
DISTRICT 4 COUNCILOR
Fran Palochak handily held off challenger Levi Saucedo with 440 votes to his 130 votes.
Palochak said Saucedo was the first person to congratulate her because the numbers he had apparently seen showed she had a substantial lead, which was reinforced as the results came in.
“I appreciate the voters being so gracious to vote for me and let me represent them for an additional four years,” she said. “It’s really for them that I serve. It’s not for me. It’s for the City of Gallup and my constituents.”
MUNICIPAL JUDGE
The three-way race was intense between competitors, Janell Griego and Earl Andrew Yearley. Ultimately, Griego pulled away with 1,509 votes to Yearley’s 1,215 votes.
The third candidate, current Mayor Jackie McKinney, brought up the rear with 653 votes.
MAYOR OF GALLUP
The most packed race of the election had five candidates, but it mostly boiled down to two.
Sammy Chioda led the pack with 1,347 votes while Louis Bonaguidi finished second with 987 votes.
As for the rest of the slate, Charles Van Drunen finished third with 721 votes, while Jayson Gomez pulled in 228 and Yolanda Ahasteen-Azua brought in 119 votes.
