Ronchetti, Lujan Grisham face off in Round 1

Oct. 1—ALBUQUERQUE — The two candidates for governor painted stark differences between their approaches to crime, education and abortion during a one-hour television debate Friday night that gave viewers their first chance to see the two face off.

Not surprisingly, incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, played up her experience and ability to work with the Democratic-majority Legislature to get things done while former television weatherman Mark Ronchetti, a Republican, countered that all that experience didn't add up to positive change for everyday New Mexicans.

There were few surprises for anyone who has been following the governor's race so far. And despite a few moments that one might call "testy," for the most part the two refrained from throwing hard verbal blows at each other.

Each instead sought to make at least one issue the cornerstone of their campaign — crime for Ronchetti, abortion for Lujan Grisham.

"What's really at stake in this election ... my opponent wants to ban abortion," said Lujan Grisham, who has repeatedly proclaimed her support for abortion rights and who recently announced a plan to spend $10 million in state funds to build a reproductive health center that will provide abortion services in the southern part of the state.

Ronchetti, meanwhile, decried New Mexico's high crime rate, attacked what he called "soft-on-crime" initiatives and called for making it easier to detain suspected criminals before trial.

When Lujan Grisham said Ronchetti doesn't understand how the legislative process works on such issues because he has never been to the Roundhouse, he responded that New Mexicans "live the crime everyday. We don't have to go to the Roundhouse because you guys don't have any crime in the Roundhouse. It's one of the reasons you are so out of touch."

The debate was hosted by the Albuquerque NBC affiliate KOB 4 and moderated by KOB journalists Matt Grubbs and Tessa Mentus. With just a minute to make points and another minute — reduced to 30 seconds late in the debate — to rebut one another, there was little time for either candidate to get much into the substance of their beliefs, proposals and, in Lujan Grisham's case, governing record.

Ronchetti took a theatrically aggressive stance, repeatedly asking viewers if they are any better off today in such areas as crime, education and standard of living than they were four years ago, when Lujan Grisham first took office.

For the most part, Lujan Grisham was more subdued in her approach, though she used every opportunity to play up her successes, particularly in the education field, where she spoke of raising teacher salaries, initiating free college for eligible New Mexicans and supporting a constitutional amendment to draw funds from the Permanent Land Grant Fund to finance more early childhood educational initiatives.

That last effort will be placed on the ballot for New Mexican voters to decide in the form of a constitutional amendment come the Nov. 8 election. Ronchetti said he opposes the proposal.

"I personally would not support it, but if you do want to support it, who do you trust with spending the money in a way that will be used wisely so it actually makes a difference in your life?" Ronchetti said.

Ronchetti, who has said he is pro-life, also reiterated his desire to place the question of whether abortion should be legal or not to voters in the form of a constitutional amendment in a future election.

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling in June, the question of whether abortion should be legal has changed from settled constitutional law to a question for state legislatures around the country. Numerous Republican-controlled states, including neighboring Texas and Arizona, have moved to ban abortion.

"Everybody in the state of New Mexico should be able to vote on it and come up with something that fits our shared values," Ronchetti said of the proposed amendment, which would first have to be approved by the Legislature.

Lujan Grisham said Ronchetti "flip flops on this issue more than the weather changes." Lujan Grisham said Ronchetti is "dancing on the grave of Roe v. Wade" and that he would say anything on that issue to get elected.

She was referring to the fact that Ronchetti has said he believes abortion should be legal for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy and in cases of pregnancies involving rape, incest or when a mother's life is at risk. That comment came into question in July when the pastor of an Albuquerque megachurch told his congregation Ronchetti said that to get elected, after which he would work to outlaw abortion. In a statement, that pastor later walked back his comments.

The two candidates also addressed the issues of water conservation, homelessness and how best to use an estimated $2.45 billion surplus expected in coming year. Contrasts between the two continued to pop up with every issue. Lujan Grisham spoke of building affordable housing for the homeless; Ronchetti spoke of banning tent encampments in the state. Lujan Grisham said she would put at least a quarter of that surplus into state savings funds, provide tax rebates to New Mexicans and invest more in behavioral, mental and physical health care programs, while Ronchetti said he would use some of that money to help small businesses hit hard by the pandemic and cut taxes for both individuals and small businesses.

Recent polls give Lujan Grisham anywhere from a 5- to a 12-point lead over Ronchetti; the political analysis website FiveThirtyEight's polling average has Lujan Grisham ahead by an average of 47 percent support to Ronchetti's 41 percent.

The two are scheduled to take part in another televised debate hosted by KOAT-TV, the Albuquerque Journal and KKOB-AM on Oct. 12.