Ronchetti promises to be a governor who listens to New Mexicans

Oct. 16—ALBUQUERQUE

A light but steady rain cast a dark cloud over a coffee shop where Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti was holding a campaign rally with the governor of Virginia on a recent Wednesday afternoon.

As luck would have it, the rain stopped and the clouds started to part just moments before the former TV meteorologist strode into the rally to thunderous applause.

Whether the Nov. 8 midterm election will provide Ronchetti the same kind of opening to unseat incumbent Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham remains to be seen.

But Ronchetti is confident in his campaign, and unlike four years ago when former Congressman Steve Pearce challenged Lujan Grisham and lost, the national GOP has gotten more involved in this year's race, betting Ronchetti has what it takes to flip the Governor's Office from blue to red once again.

"Ronchetti possesses near-universal name recognition, and after an impressive [but unsuccessful] U.S. Senate run [in 2020], the [Republican Governors Association] believes he will be the next governor of the Land of Enchantment," RGA spokesman Will Reinert said.

Ronchetti, 49, is pitching himself to voters as the candidate who will listen to their concerns and bring a fresh perspective to turn New Mexico around.

"I want to talk to you about what's at stake in this election and how critical it is that we make Michelle Lujan Grisham a one-term governor," Ronchetti told a fired-up crowd during the campaign rally at Napoli Coffee on Menaul Boulevard.

"It's critical! It's critical!" a man yelled from the back of the room.

"When you look at the momentum that we're gathering across this state, there is one thing that is undeniable," Ronchetti continued. "The people of this state have had enough of a governor who has decided she doesn't need our input on anything."

Ronchetti quickly focused his stump speech on an issue he has elevated to the forefront throughout the campaign: crime.

It's an issue Albuquerque residents, and New Mexicans, for that matter, understand firsthand amid an ongoing wave of lawlessness.

"When ... you look at one of the largest fentanyl busts in the history of the FBI in the South Valley [of Albuquerque] and they asked ... the gang members who were dealing fentanyl across our state why they were here, you know what their answer was? 'Because we can be ourselves,' " Ronchetti said at the rally. "Well, those days end on Nov. 8 when we defeat Michelle Lujan Grisham."

A win would be an upset as polling continues to show Ronchetti trailing Lujan Grisham, a former congresswoman and the nation's first Democratic Latina governor.

Ronchetti is undeterred.

"Just look at the big things [like crime and education] and ask, 'Are we better off than we were four years ago?' " Ronchetti said in a recent interview.

"By any metric, the answer right now is no. But the point is it can get better," he said. "It doesn't have to be this way. But if we continue to elect the same people, nothing is going to change."

Bob Gamache, an Albuquerque resident who attended the coffee shop campaign rally, said he supports Ronchetti because he isn't a politician but knows his politics.

"Michelle is a ding-dong," said Gamache, who was wearing a "Trump 2020" T-shirt and hat. "If we don't get rid of Michelle, we're in trouble, and Mark will change everything."

While Ronchetti has tried to make the narrative of the governor's race about crime, education and the economy, Lujan Grisham has made it about abortion — an issue likely to galvanize female voters after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Ronchetti, who calls himself "pro-life," has taken a more centrist stance on abortion — a position that has cost him the support of some conservatives.

"I believe permitting abortion up to 15 weeks and in cases involving rape, incest, and when a mother's life is at risk is a very reasonable position that most in New Mexico will support regardless of party affiliation," he said in a statement after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision.

Ronchetti's true position has come into question since the pastor of a megachurch in Albuquerque told his congregation Ronchetti told him his goal is to end abortion in New Mexico.

Ronchetti recently called for a constitutional amendment to let voters decide the extent of abortion rights in New Mexico.

Lujan Grisham, a staunch abortion-rights supporter, has continued to attack Ronchetti on the issue, saying a woman's right to choose is on the line in November.

Ronchetti's supporters accuse Lujan Grisham of trying to divert attention from problems she's failed to address during her tenure as governor.

"I have Democratic friends, like I understand that abortion is a big issue for them, but it's not the central one in my opinion," Kelly Covill, who has lived in Albuquerque since 2014, said in an interview at Ronchetti's rally with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

"Crime is a big issue, but the only issue that I've seen Michelle attack [Ronchetti] on is abortion," she said. "There's more than one issue to be considered."

Elizabeth Robertson, who owns the coffee shop where Ronchetti held his campaign rally alongside Youngkin, the third Republican governor to stump for Ronchetti in New Mexico, said the state desperately needs new leadership.

"I am absolutely supporting Mark Ronchetti," she said, adding his policy plans on education and crime, among other issues, resonate with her as a mother and business owner.

"Look at my coffee shop," she said. "I have to have bars on all of my windows because we get broken into so much, and we get broken into for ten dollars that they steal out of my cash register in quarters, and it costs me $2,000 because I have to have pay somebody in the middle of the night to come board up these giant windows and then replace the glass. We cannot continue to go on this way. Our state cannot afford to."

Robertson also criticized Lujan Grisham's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying she's still dealing with the aftermath.

"The amount of time that she kept us closed, it exceeded what everybody else did in the country, and it just didn't make sense," she said.

Robertson said the on-again, off-again business closures made staffing especially difficult.

"I would hire people and then I would have to let them go again," she said. "For the most part, it was only myself [working]. My daughter was in my office doing school on her iPad. My 4-year-old son was glued to an iPad because I had to be the only person working. My husband owns a business as well, so he had to be at work, too."

Before the pandemic, Robertson said she employed 13 baristas. She currently has two.

"I used to be open seven days a week, 6 to 6. Now I'm open Monday through Saturday, 7 to 2," she said. "I can't hire people. I can't keep people. It's really tough."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.