we don't need no stinkin ballots

In 1879, Perfecto Armijo ran as the Democrat candidate for sheriff of Bernalillo County. In this, his first political campaign, he faced Republican Santiago Baca, an ambitious and aggressive man, popular throughout the area.

To garner votes, the pair decided upon an unorthodox competition. Prior to the balloting, both rode through the county enlisting the aid of their brawniest and toughest supporters. On the appointed date, partisans of each candidate gathered on a vacant lot in the center of Albuquerque. On signal, the two sides flew at one another with sticks, stones, fists and profane language, while a citizens' mob looked on approvingly.

The referee, Judge William Heacock, recalled later that "though nobody was killed, the fights were real." To the winner, Armijo or Baca, the audience gave their votes.

In the election that followed, Perfecto emerged victorious. After winning two additional terms for sheriff, each attended by the riotous fights, he was finally dethroned by rival Santiago Baca in 1886.