New Mexico
City of Albuquerque prepares for cold front moving into New Mexico
As temperatures drop, city workers are trying to make sure everyone has a warm place to go or at least some warm clothes.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Temperatures are cold across New Mexico and are expected to drop even lower. For many, that means layering up and putting the heat on in your house. But for thousands of New Mexicans, they don’t have that luxury. So leaders with the City of Albuquerque are trying to help out.
Right now, the city’s cold weather sheltering plan is in place. Meaning, more beds and shelters are available to anyone who needs it. But according to the city’s shelter bed tracker, Gateway Center, Gateway West and Family Gateway are all full.
Gateway West is even over capacity, with the site saying -83 beds are available. But some Gateway services are being converted to make more beds available, like the first responder receiving area.
City leaders also explained they work with partners to make sure they can fulfill their promise of providing a warm place and bed for every person who needs it.
“Anyone that asks for a bed, either we’re asking them, or if they’re calling us, we’ll make a warm bed available,” CABQ Director of Communications Staci Drangmeister said.
As temperatures drop, city workers are trying to make sure everyone has a warm place to go or at least some warm clothes.
“First responders are out handing out coats, socks, warm clothing to people that need them. Anyone that would like to donate, we would love your support,” Drangmeister said.
Drangmeister explained some of the top priorities right now are things like coats, sweatpants, gloves, beanies and more. But as first responders hand items out, they’re also trying to encourage people to go to shelters as temperatures become life-threatening.
“It’s important for everyone to know that the cold, and when it’s wet especially, can be really dangerous. Look out for your community, both housed and unhoused,” Drangmeister said.
Under the cold weather sheltering plan, the city works to free up even more beds than it currently has.
“The Gateway Center is one of the places within our emergency sheltering plan that we can add additional capacity so we can add temporary beds as the need might expand,” she explained.
As the city’s shelters fill up, Drangmeister said they’ll tap into their network of partners to add beds.
“Gateway West is closing in on capacity, but there are partner organizations, and then the city has plans in place and is committed,” Drangmeister said.
The shelters and beds are also open to anyone who is cold, not only people facing homelessness.
“By law, your landlord has to give you adequate heating. So, if you’re a renter and that’s not the case. [We] encourage you to call 311, and report it, because everyone should absolutely have access to a heater that’s going to work and keep you warm,” she said.
According to the city’s website, 1,199 beds are in use and 85 available. But if those run out. Drangmeister says they’ll continue to find more beds or set up cots in the shelters.
If you need a place to warm up during the day or if you lose power, you can go to any of the city’s facilities like a community center. Drangmeister says they’ll open up warming centers as needed.
You can call ACS at (505) 768-4227. For transportation to a shelter between 8:00p.m. and 7:00a.m., call the ACS emergency after-hours transportation service at (505) 418-6178. You can also call 311 for help.
To donate clothes, click here.
Native Vote 2026
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Laguna Pueblo woman is the front runner to be New Mexico’s next governor.
Shortly after polls closed Tuesday night, Deb Haaland was declared the winner over Bernalillo County district attorney Sam Bregman in the state’s semi-open Democratic Party primary. As of 11:00 p.m., Haaland carried support from 72% of the Democratic primary voters to Bregman’s 28%, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
“We’re showing everyone that a better future in New Mexico is possible,” she told supporters gathered in Albuquerque’s historic Old Town Plaza. “New Mexicans want a leader who will stand up for working people, and who is ready to take on Donald Trump. I proudly accept your nomination as a Democratic nominee.”
Haaland spoke for 13 minutes, at times through a scratchy throat that required her to pause for water breaks. “Excuse me, I’ve been talking with voters all day,” she said while grabbing a water bottle before hitting her campaign stump notes on affordability, health care and public safety.
She will face Republican Gregg Hull, a former mayor from suburban Rio Rancho that won his party’s three-way primary with 47% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
Haaland will be the Democratic Party nominee in a state dominated at every level by Democrats, and is expected to be heavily favored in the general election. With that insight she said her campaign message does translate to Republicans and Independent voters.
“We want our kids to thrive. We want our kids to have a quality, public education. We want every New Mexican to have health care. Everybody wants to feel safe in their neighborhoods, and everybody wants to be able to afford to put a hot meal on their table every night and have a roof over their children’s heads,” she said. “Those issues transcend whatever political spectrum we’re trying to slice and dice people into.”
Shortly after the race was called, Haaland campaign staff, major donors, surrogates, and their families walked from a building on the west side of Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza to the historic plaza core, where the Haaland campaign had set up a stage and reserved the entire plaza for its victory celebration.
“We are now witnessing history in the making,” New Mexico state Rep. Derrick Lente (Sandia Pueblo) said to supporters immediately after Haaland was declared the winner.
Denise Wilie (Dine) also joined the celebration of Haaland’s victory. Wilie said she worked on get-out-the-vote efforts with the Native American Voters Alliance in McKinley County.
“It just is so exhilarating to even think about, a woman and a Pueblo woman,” she said. “Indigenous all the way, is how I feel. I’m like, yes, let’s get more of our voices.”
Haaland was introduced by her two sisters and walked to the stage escorted by a mariachi band.
Speaking to reporters after the event Haaland reflected on voting for a Pueblo woman (herself) for governor.
“I got emotional, quite frankly, when I went to vote for myself because you do that when you’re a candidate,” she said. “We’ve never had a Native American governor in New Mexico. We’re a multicultural state. I think representation matters, especially in a political era such as this one. So, I’m really proud and honored to carry on the legacy of my ancestors, who worked so incredibly hard to make sure that I had a place here today.”
Related
When a famly unexpectedly loses a loved one, or has someone go missing, the details of what comes next can be overwhelming.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – When a famly unexpectedly loses a loved one, or has someone go missing, the details of what comes next can be overwhelming.
But they don’t have to do it alone thanks to an organization helping New Mexico families with some of those burdens.
Watch the video above for more.
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