Ronchetti leaves KRQE to consider run for governor

Oct. 23—An October surprise appears to be in the forecast.

Television weatherman Mark Ronchetti resigned Thursday as KRQE-TV's chief meteorologist to consider a run for governor of New Mexico.

Ronchetti, a Republican, long has been said to be mulling a gubernatorial campaign after he finished second — and much better than many expected — in last year's U.S. Senate race against Ben Ray Luján, a six-term U.S. representative and scion of a well-known political family.

"We have not made a final decision yet," Ronchetti said Friday in a statement.

"Krysty and I will continue to talk to our girls and pray about the direction we're going to head in next," he added, referring to his wife and two young daughters. "We hope to have a final decision by next week."

Though no formal announcement followed the news of his resignation from the TV station, which was the case when he ran for Senate, signs point to a gubernatorial campaign already in the works.

Ronchetti's Senate campaign website was changed Thursday to read "Mark Ronchetti Governor."

"Join team Ronchetti and together we'll win in 2022," the website stated before it was pulled down a short time later.

The Republican nominee for governor will face off against Democratic incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in the November 2022 election, and political observers have said Ronchetti could be a formidable opponent.

Earlier this month, attorneys for the Democratic Governors Association, which Lujan Grisham chairs, sent a letter to Ronchetti's boss warning that any time Ronchetti spent on KRQE-TV's airwaves would be subject to the equal opportunity provisions of federal communications law if he became a "legally qualified candidate."

Democrats reacted swiftly to Ronchetti potentially jumping into the governor's race.

" 'Misleading' Mark has repeatedly lied to the people of New Mexico, publicly denying his political ambitions while privately holding closed-door meetings for his gubernatorial campaign," Delaney Corcoran, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of New Mexico, wrote in an email.

"Ronchetti's lies are only the latest update to his extremist record — from clinging to Trump in his failed Senate race to threatening to dismantle women's rights to rejecting the science behind COVID-19 protections and climate change, Ronchetti has shown he will always prioritize personal political gain at the expense of New Mexicans," she wrote.

Kendall Witmer, Lujan Grisham's campaign spokeswoman, did not respond when asked whether the campaign was concerned about a potential face-off with Ronchetti. Instead, she touted the governor's record.

"Governor Lujan Grisham has put economic growth at the center of her agenda all while leading a pandemic response that saved thousands of lives," Witmer wrote in an email. "She invested hundreds of millions in New Mexico's small businesses, cut taxes for more than half a million middle class families, and fulfilled a promise to the people of New Mexico by legalizing cannabis. That's a record New Mexicans are behind."

Will Reinert, a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association, which has set its sights on reclaiming the Governor's Office in New Mexico, declined to comment on a potential gubernatorial run by Ronchetti. Instead, he attacked Lujan Grisham.

"Voters sent up a trial balloon when they elected a Democrat in Michelle Lujan Grisham, but her tenure as Governor landed like a lead balloon with numerous scandals leaving her distracted and incapable of properly leading the state forward," Reinert wrote in an email. "New Mexicans crave competent leadership in the Roundhouse — someone who will fight for better schools, lower taxes, and safer neighborhoods, instead of their current governor who is a constant embarrassment. Republicans will undoubtedly have a nominee who can carry that message to victory next November."

Dr. Gabriel Sanchez, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico, wrote in an email Ronchetti would shake up the race if he ran for governor.

"Yes, absolutely this changes the landscape of the governor's race, both making MLG's chances of getting a second term a little less likely, and making Ronchetti the front-runner for the GOP nomination," he wrote.

Kim Skaggs, the state GOP's executive director, did not return a message seeking comment.

Unlike the seven Republicans who already have announced their intention to seek the GOP nomination, Ronchetti has statewide name recognition and proved he could raise money when he ran for the Senate. A political novice at the time, Ronchetti won 46 percent of the vote in the three-way race.

Ronchetti, however, is off to a late start, with just 13 months left until the election — and Lujan Grisham already has a massive campaign war chest. In her most recent campaign finance report, Lujan Grisham reported raising $2.53 million in campaign contributions, dwarfing all of the Republican contenders, whose combined haul was less than $1 million.

One of the Republican contenders, Greg Zanetti, an investment adviser and retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army, issued a statement Friday that purported to welcome Ronchetti into the governor's race.

"Mark Ronchetti's potential entrance into the race raises two critical questions. First, 'Who would [you] rather have leading New Mexico going forward, a general or a weatherman?' And 'Do you believe it wise to elect someone whose first executive job is that of governor?' " he said.

Zanetti asserted Lujan Grisham has tried to learn on the job and "the consequences has been disastrous" for New Mexico.

"These are not criticisms of Mr. Ronchetti, only distinctions," Zanetti added. "Mark is an accomplished weatherman, but New Mexico is going to need someone with real world military, financial and business experience to turn the state around."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.