I have a proven record of fighting crime, protecting our communities, and upholding law and order. I’ll unshackle the police, end Mayor Keller’s failed sanctuary policies, clean up homeless encampments, and restore safety to Albuquerque’s streets, parks, and businesses while cutting government waste and making our city a place where families and businesses can thrive again.
Darren has a long history in public service.
He served in the United States Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division. Following his military career, White served both the Houston and Albuquerque Police departments, where he was named honor graduate of both academies. While working law enforcement, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Management degree.
Gov. Gary Johnson appointed White to head the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and the New Mexico State Police in 1995. At 31, White was the youngest state public safety director in the country. He supervised over a thousand employees and was responsible for a budget of one hundred million dollars. He oversaw the New Mexico State Police, the state law enforcement academy and led the Emergency Management Center for New Mexico.
In 2002, White was elected Sheriff of Bernalillo County and was re-elected in 2006 by an overwhelming margin. Just days after Hurricane Katrina, Sheriff White was asked by the National Sheriffs’ Association to respond to New Orleans. White personally led a group of 43 deputies and firefighters to Louisiana where they set up base just blocks from the Ninth Ward. White’s team was credited and received numerous honors for saving more than 200 people from floodwaters.
In 2006, following an eight-month search of more than 1,400 business, political, and civic leaders, the Aspen Institute recognized Sheriff White as one of the nation’s top 24 young elected officials and selected him for a new fellowship program honoring public leaders. The Aspen Institute identified White as a “true rising star” in American politics.
White was appointed as Albuquerque’s Public Safety Director in December 2009. As the Public Safety Director, White was in charge of Albuquerque’s police and fire departments, the emergency management office, and the Safe City Strike Force. He supervised over two thousand employees and was responsible for a budget of two hundred and twenty million dollars.
Following his retirement from law enforcement, White founded and served as co-owner and CEO of PūrLife, a licensed medical cannabis producer in New Mexico, from 2015 until the company was sold in September 2021. PūrLife is the second largest cannabis company in the state and operates four cultivation facilities and thirteen dispensaries.
From 2019 until 2021, Darren was the weekday host of the Darren White Show on News Radio KKOB, New Mexico’s oldest news and talk show radio station which has the largest broadcast in the southwest. The show grew a loyal following of listeners that enjoyed White’s fiercely independent and gritty take on the state and national politics. White continues as a guest-host for the station.
