If I were betting, my money would be on Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller to win a third term in next month’s runoff election.

He needs plenty of help from people who snubbed him in voting last week, but he should garner enough support to survive. Whether Keller has any enthusiasm for another four years in a difficult and demanding job is a different question.

Keller lost his way a dozen years ago after starting in politics as a competent, charismatic Democratic state senator. He was only 35 when he began pursuing grander titles instead finishing the work he started.

Keller’s choices came with an unintended consequence: He boxed himself into a job with no upward mobility.

His missteps began after he was reelected to the New Mexico Senate in 2012. He represented the drug-infested section of

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