Virginia governor Youngkin stumps for Ronchetti in New Mexico

Oct. 6—ALBUQUERQUE — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who scored a major upset victory against a former Democratic governor in a blue stronghold last year, stumped for GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti during a raucous, standing-room-only campaign rally Wednesday.

The event, which drew a crowd of roughly 300, marked the third time a Republican governor has traveled to New Mexico to campaign for Ronchetti, a former longtime TV weatherman who is trying to unseat Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in the Nov. 8 midterm election.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis campaigned for Ronchetti at a Carlsbad rally in August, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey stumped for Ronchetti in Albuquerque last month.

In a statement, the Democratic Party of New Mexico said Ronchetti is showing he "will always put the extreme Republican base above everyday New Mexicans" by campaigning with what Democrats called "MAGA" governors, referring to former President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

"New Mexico voters must heed Virginia's warning," Democratic Party spokesman Daniel Garcia said in a statement. "Youngkin has gleefully put the MAGA GOP base above Virginians, promising an extremist abortion ban that voters strongly oppose. Unless we stop him, Mark Ronchetti will do the exact same thing in New Mexico."

Youngkin, however, said Ronchetti is the right candidate to tackle the issues most important to New Mexicans.

During a brief meeting with reporters after the rally and before heading to Las Cruces for another campaign stop with Ronchetti, Youngkin said the issues in Virginia and New Mexico are the same.

"You see crime at an all-time level and schools underperforming to a large degree, and, oh, by the way, parents wanting to be engaged in their children's life, and inflation," he said. "This is a time for a Republican governor to bring commonsense answers to these kitchen table issues, and that's exactly what Mark is going to do."

Ronchetti said the issues of crime, education and inflation Youngkin talked about are "not political."

"These issues aren't Republican or Democrat issues," he said. "But they're not being taken care of by the current governor. We will."

Youngkin, the first Republican to win a statewide election in Virginia since 2009, went before the crowd at Napoli Coffee on Menaul Boulevard dancing and clapping to Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" before calling Ronchetti, who spoke before him, the next governor of New Mexico.

"I was flying out here today, and I started thinking about all the great things that make New Mexico great," he said. "It is a long list, but let me tell you what's at the heart of it. What's at the heart of it is grit. What's at the heart of it is perseverance. What's at the heart of it is faith and family, and what's at the heart of it is the spirit of New Mexico."

But what's happening in New Mexico and across the nation is "they're trying to stamp out that spirit," Youngkin said in an apparent reference to Democrats.

"What they're trying to do is take it away from you, and I have to tell you, you have to stand up and say, 'No, not here in New Mexico,' " he said.

Youngkin drew parallels between Virginia and New Mexico with the crowd, too.

"I look back at the pandemic and Virginia was locked tight, shut down. ... Sound familiar?" he asked the crowd, which shouted "Yeah!" in unison.

"In Virginia, crime got to a 20-year high. Sound familiar? In Virginia, they told parents that their kids watching a 12-inch screen was a quality education. Sound familiar? In Virginia, prices ran away from people and [they] couldn't make ends meet. Sound familiar?" he asked, each time generating agreement from the crowd. "I'll tell you what happened in Virginia. Virginians stood up."

Youngkin also drew similarities to Ronchetti.

"All the pundits said last year that no Republican candidate can win in the Commonwealth of Virginia," Youngkin told the crowd. "They said that the suburbs are too blue, the media is too strong. They forgot to do one thing: Ask the voters."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.