In latest ploy for attention, Keller wants probe into ‘I Love Tim Keller’ hoodies

With the mayoral runoff just days away, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller is now demanding an investigation into the mysterious “I ♥ Tim Keller” hoodies handed out to homeless individuals along Central — a move that looks far more like political theater than genuine concern.

Keller’s campaign blasted the sweatshirts as a “cruel political stunt” and claimed the unknown sponsor committed an act of illegal campaign spending. But the more Keller and his operatives posture, the more observers are asking whether his own campaign stands to benefit from a controversy they are now loudly amplifying. After all, no one has gained more media attention from the spectacle than Keller himself.

In a Friday press release, the campaign insisted that whoever paid for “dozens of sweatshirts” must have spent over the $250 threshold that requires registration with the City Clerk. The Keller team dramatically labeled it “dark money” activity — despite having no evidence of who funded it or what their motive actually was.

The timing raises eyebrows. The complaint was filed Thursday — just days before the December 9 runoff — by Keller’s attorney, former state lawmaker Daymon Ely, who warned that “If this is not properly investigated, the political process and attempts to regulate the process are meaningless.”

Yet one cannot ignore the political convenience: Keller gets to portray himself as a victim of shadowy forces, feeding a narrative tailor-made to galvanize sympathetic coverage.

Meanwhile, the only person publicly acknowledging knowledge of the stunt, Rio Grande Foundation president Paul Gessing, has refused to name the individual responsible. Gessing told reporters he knew the distributor’s identity, and in a KOAT-TV interview even praised the tactic as “brilliant.”

“I think it’s a very interesting technique to highlight an issue and put it in front of the media and average New Mexicans,” Gessing said, noting it forces voters to confront homelessness — a crisis that Keller has failed to meaningfully address after eight years in office.

Gessing did not respond to questions Friday, and Darren White’s campaign also declined comment, having flatly denied involvement multiple times.

Regardless, Keller’s complaint may not go far. Recent precedent shows the Board of Ethics has limited authority over anyone who isn’t a candidate or campaign committee. In a ruling involving City Council Candidate Stephanie Telles, the board noted that its power over third parties is narrow — essentially restricted to a public reprimand or a $500 fine per violation. Even then, it acknowledged its jurisdiction likely doesn’t extend to unaffiliated actors like Gessing.

That makes Keller’s aggressive push for an inquiry feel more symbolic than substantive — a chance to create a scandal narrative where none existed.

Still, Keller’s lawyer resorted to moral condemnation in the complaint’s final lines, writing: “These people are being used as political props. It is disgraceful. It is also unlawful.”

Lost in the moralizing, however, is a critical question: Who is really exploiting Albuquerque’s homeless? The unknown hoodie distributor? Or Keller, whose campaign swiftly turned the situation into a media spectacle seemingly designed to cast himself as the wronged party?

On Central Avenue earlier this week, dozens of people experiencing homelessness were seen wearing the bright yellow hoodies. Some admitted they didn’t know who Tim Keller was; others recognized the political ploy but said it was cold — and accepting a sweatshirt was better than freezing.

Whether Keller’s complaint goes anywhere remains doubtful. But one thing is clear: Keller’s administration has repeatedly used political outrage as a campaign tactic — and this latest stunt, intentional or not, has handed him another opportunity to play the victim. The only question left is whether the outrage is genuine or manufactured for political gain.