Dapson, List win runoff election for city council seats

Another Election Day is in the books for some Rio Rancho residents, and the results have a familiar face returning to the city council and a former mayor of Rio Rancho losing his seat.

Rio Rancho held a runoff election for Districts 1 and 6 city councilors since no candidate in the March 5 election received a majority of the votes cast, as required by the city’s charter.

Election Day voting closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday. About five minutes later, the unofficial results were released, showing Deborah Dapson unseating incumbent Jim Owen in District 1 and Nicole List, who was appointed to the city council in August, winning the District 6 seat.

"Thank you to everyone for their support," List said. "I am honored and humbled. I look forward to the next four years serving our community."

Owen, who was Mayor from 2002-06 and was elected to city council in 2016, had 398 (47%) votes to Dapson’s 442 (53%).

"I am proud and thankful to the voters for giving me this opportunity to serve them," Dapson said. "I will do my best to be a true representative of District 1 and work with the governing body to keep the vision moving forward."

List had 416 (51%) votes compared to Edward Paulsgrove’s 393 (49%).

"Running for District 6 council seat was a humbling experience, one that I won’t forget. I was able to meet so many great people," Paulsgrove said. "My goal was to run a grass-roots campaign, one based on honor, honesty and integrity and I achieved that goal. I wasn’t beholding to any special interests, didn’t owe any favors. My promise was to be the responsive councilor that has been missing from District 6 for years. My biggest regret is that the change so many of my District 6 neighbors were looking forward to will have to wait."

The city of Rio Rancho municipal election ended on March 5 with incumbent Paul Wymer retaining his seat in District 4.

“The local elections are very, very important. These are the elected offices that really set the policy in the community that people live in,” City Clerk Rebecca Martinez said. “So as it relates to residents, these folks contemplate things very close and immediate and tangible to them such as roads getting fixed, such as community centers, where a park is going to be all of that good stuff, how much money is going to be spent on public safety. So it's very, very important.”

The unofficial results of the Districts 1 and 6 runoff election and canvass report will be presented for approval to the Sandoval County Canvassing Board and Bernalillo County Canvassing Board by the Rio Rancho city clerk April 15. Part of District 1 is in Bernalillo County.

The newly elected city councilors will be sworn in April 25 and officially take office on May 1.

Martinez presented a canvass report to the Sandoval County Commission on March 15 showing that of the 74,282 eligible voters in Sandoval County, only 5,139 voted in the March 5 election, which is a voter turnout of 6.92%.

That’s down from a voter turnout of about 9% in 2020 and 9.9% in 2016. The mayoral election in 2022 had a 14% turnout, and the 2018 election was 16%.

1,651 voters out of the 25,238 eligible voters across the two districts voted in the runoff election, which is a turnout of nearly 7%.