OPINION: Weatherman's clumsy style denied him upset win

Nov. 9—In the end, weatherman Mark Ronchetti was out of his element, and it showed. Did it ever.

Republican Ronchetti had a puncher's chance to knock Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham out of office. She stumbled as an executive decision-maker, but Ronchetti flopped as a challenger, going down to defeat Tuesday night.

Lujan Grisham is fortunate Ronchetti campaigned poorly. Her administrative skills had come under attack, often with justification. For instance, her first three selections for secretary of public education exited through a revolving door.

Just as important, the governor's popularity had declined since her 2018 victory by 14 percentage points over a Republican with none of Ronchetti's hair or flair. The more the public saw of Lujan Grisham, the more willing many voters were to consider an alternative.

All Ronchetti had to do was be himself to stay in contention, or so it seemed.

Television news directors always said he was a fine weatherman because he communicated on air as easily as he did in person. Confident without being cocky, Ronchetti influenced viewers. At least that was what the broadcast industry's publicity machine had claimed since Ronchetti arrived in New Mexico 24 years ago.

Ronchetti, though, brought little of his on-air talent to the gubernatorial campaign, his second try for public office.

He ran and lost a U.S. Senate election two years ago. Ronchetti started late but closed well against seasoned Democrat Ben Ray Luján, who had spent 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ronchetti, 49, should have been smoother, stronger and better in the gubernatorial campaign. He regressed instead.

The television performer seemed robotic in two debates and many more scripted advertisements. Paid staff members handed Ronchetti a few talking points, which he recited without authority.

When forced to be extemporaneous, Ronchetti ducked and dodged. His position shifted from a strident anti-abortion statement to a softer stand after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Ronchetti advocated a state constitutional amendment on abortion that would make his changing views subservient to the general public's sentiment.

He knew all along his call for a public vote on abortion was a 1-in-1,000 shot. Both chambers of the state Legislature must agree to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. With Democrats controlling the Senate and the House of Representatives, a Republican governor is unlikely to get any ballot issue in front of voters.

Lujan Grisham benefited from the right-leaning Supreme Court's decision to undo 49 years of the right to legal abortions nationwide. By tossing the issue back to state legislatures and governors, the justices gave 63-year-old Lujan Grisham every opportunity to stand firm on a high-profile issue.

She twice pressed state legislators to repeal a dormant but dangerous 1969 law criminalizing abortion. Lujan Grisham lost the first round, when eight conservative Democrats in the Senate voted with all 16 Republicans to keep the anti-abortion law on the books.

Upset but unyielding, Lujan Grisham and liberal voters moved against the Democratic senators who had helped preserve the dormant old law. Voters ousted six of the eight.

With a reshaped Senate, Lujan Grisham prevailed. New Mexico's anti-abortion law was repealed after 52 years.

Abortion rights were just one problem for Ronchetti. His clumsy campaign didn't inspire confidence.

Ronchetti tried to sound authoritative about border security, mismanagement in state agencies and crime in Albuquerque. He didn't.

Gone were the days when he expected everyone to complain about the weather but never about him. Most voters weren't going to embrace a politician who needed remedial help in public policy and basic communication.

Lujan Grisham becomes the fourth consecutive governor of New Mexico to get a second term. Her road to victory was bumpier than the others.

Govs. Gary Johnson, Bill Richardson and Susana Martinez all got two terms. Each remained strong through their first term before becoming unpopular in the second.

Johnson, then a Republican, waited until he was reelected to speak in favor of legalizing marijuana, angering his base. Financial scandals swirled around Democrat Richardson after he won a second term with 69 percent of the vote. Martinez, a Republican, made a spectacle of herself with a slurred, officious call to Santa Fe's emergency dispatch center. She insisted police stand down on a noise complaint at a hotel where Martinez was throwing a Christmas party.

A top-flight Republican candidate might have unseated Lujan Grisham. Ronchetti was by far the strongest candidate disorganized Republicans could nominate. He also was a flawed nominee, shifting on abortion and telling a misleading story about a 10-year-old break-in at his home in Albuquerque.

For an experienced television performer, he failed to make a clear case for himself. Lujan Grisham caught a break. Ronchetti's negatives outpaced her own.

Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.