Ronchetti outraises Lujan Grisham by $330K as race hits stretch run

Oct. 12—Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti outraised Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham by close to $330,000 in the most recent campaign finance reporting period — a jolt of good news for the former TV weatherman following a series of polls showed him trailing the incumbent Democrat.

In addition to raising more money than Lujan Grisham between Sept. 6 and Oct. 3, Ronchetti will enter the final weeks of the campaign season with more cash on hand, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday.

"BOOM!" Ronchetti tweeted after the fundraising totals were revealed on the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office website. "We just out raised the sitting governor in the most important financial period of the election season."

Ronchetti raised $1.45 million during the roughly four-week period, leaving him with a campaign war chest of nearly $2.5 million.

Lujan Grisham raised $1.12 million during the same time frame, leaving her with a closing balance of almost $1.7 million — or about $800,000 less than her chief challenger in the race.

The Lujan Grisham campaign tried to change the narrative of the numbers.

Delaney Corcoran, a spokeswoman for Lujan Grisham's reelection campaign, accused Ronchetti of taking campaign contributions from "dark money extremists of all kinds."

Among them, Corcoran wrote in an email, is the Susan B. Anthony List, a "pro-life" organization whose mission is to end abortion.

Ronchetti has also received a combined $13,000 from three of five New Mexico Republican Party members accused of signing fake electoral vote certificates after the 2020 presidential election as part of a plot to overturn the results in favor of former President Donald Trump.

The most recent campaign contribution, for $10,000, came from Debbie Maestas, who has been subpoenaed by the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, commonly referred to as the Jan. 6 Committee.

The Republican Party of New Mexico has defended Maestas, a former chairwoman of the organization, as well as the others, saying they cast votes "in the event that standing legal challenges prevailed and changed the outcome of the [presidential] election."

A previous campaign finance report filed by Ronchetti's campaign listed a $2,000 contribution from Lupe Garcia of Santa Cruz and $1,000 from Rosalind Tripp of Socorro.

"Ronchetti even accepted a check from John Eastman — the main architect of the coup plot to keep Donald Trump in office after President Biden won," Corcoran wrote.

Eastman, who listed a Santa Fe address, contributed $500 to Ronchetti's campaign Sept. 27, the report shows.

Despite raising less money than Ronchetti, Delaney wrote the governor's campaign "had a strong fundraising period" and is "growing momentum heading into the final four weeks."

Ronchetti's campaign declined to address donations from individual contributors but touted its overall fundraising.

"Ninety-five of his contributions come from within the state," Ryan Sabel, Ronchetti's communications director, wrote in an email. "Mark will be a governor for all the people of the state."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.