Wende Schwingendorf for Bernalillo County Commission, District 4

Innovative, collaborative, inclusive, and courageous leadership for a 21^st century community

Wende Schwingendorf is running for the Bernalillo County Commission District 4 seat in central New Mexico, situated mainly along the Paseo del Norte corridor from the Sandia Mountains to the West Side communities of Ventana Ranch and Paradise Hills; it also encompasses parts of Albuquerque’s Far Northeast Heights, Sandia Heights, High Desert, the Pueblo of Sandia, Cibola National Forest, Rio Rancho, and Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.

Bernalillo County faces complex issues surrounding public safety, water management, and land development. Her northern district faces traffic congestion and infrastructure issues, increasing levels of crime, small business and economic development challenges, and the need for more community and youth services.

With the Keller Administration in the city of Albuquerque and newly elected Democratic leadership in Albuquerque’s City Council, in Santa Fe, and representing New Mexico in Washington, D.C., Wende will utilize these significant opportunities for collaboration and coordination to advocate for fully staffed and funded public safety, public works, and transportation departments; community programs, family services, and behavioral health systems. She also commits to be an effective steward of taxpayer dollars slated to improve mental and substance abuse services countywide. 

During her 26-year, award-winning career as a journalist and communication/public relations professional in the public, private, government, financial, and nonprofit sectors, she’s brought to the forefront subjects and stories important to New Mexicans – water and land issues, public safety, healthcare, education, business, finance, and overall family health and well-being. 

She brings experience working on leadership teams at the state of New Mexico, the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners, the New Mexico Community Foundation’s community schools initiative, and the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. 

Wende is a lifelong Bernalillo County resident, and hails from two Kirtland Air Force Base families – her father, who served in the U.S. Navy, and her grandfather, who is an U.S. Air Force veteran. Her mother and stepfather are retired from local health care and construction industries. She is a graduate of Albuquerque Public Schools and the University of New Mexico, and is currently earning her master's degree in communication from Eastern New Mexico University.

Wende is a 2019 graduate of Emerge New Mexico, the state’s premier organization that recruits, trains, and provides a powerful network to empower Democratic women to run for office.

When elected in November 2020, she will be the first District 4 Commissioner to live on the county’s Westside, and will be the first female Democrat to hold the seat.