Ronchetti wins GOP primary race for Senate seat
Ex-TV meteorologist will face U.S. Rep. Luján, Libertarian Walsh
SANTA FE — Former television meteorologist Mark Ronchetti of Albuquerque scorched his rivals in a three-way Republican primary race for an open U.S. Senate seat, setting up a general election showdown with Democrat Ben Ray Luján.
Based on unofficial results, Ronchetti had received about 55.5% of the votes cast by GOP voters, with more than 104,000 votes counted Tuesday night, easily outpacing anti-abortion advocate Elisa Martinez of Albuquerque and ex-college law professor Gavin Clarkson of Las Cruces.
He will face off in November against Luján and Libertarian candidate Bob Walsh, both of whom were unopposed in Tuesday’s primary election. Luján currently represents New Mexico’s northern 3rd Congressional District, but decided to forego a reelection bid in order to run for the U.S. Senate seat.
“I think this is a very clear choice: This is the Washington, D.C., insider versus the political outsider,” Ronchetti said during a Tuesday evening phone interview from his home, where he watched election results come in with his family.
Journal pollster Brian Sanderoff said Ronchetti’s name recognition due to his years on television was a major factor in his win.
The three-way Republican primary race was marked by attacks over each candidate’s support of President Donald Trump, with Ronchetti in particular facing criticism from his opponents. Much of the criticism came after a video surfaced of Ronchetti making comments that appeared to be disparaging of Trump during a climate change event last year.
Ronchetti’s campaign has said he supports Trump and his policies, though Ronchetti said Tuesday he would try to avoid partisan sparring over Trump’s actions during the run-up to the general election.
“I’m not going to play the game,” he told the Journal, adding that his policy positions would be based on New Mexico impact.
Luján said in a Tuesday interview before polls closed that whatever GOP candidate emerged from the three-way primary would have to face New Mexicans’ concerns over Trump’s proposed changes to the federal Affordable Care Act during the general election.
“Each of the three Republican candidates seemed to pledge blind allegiance to President Trump,” Luján told the Journal.
He also called the race key to Democrats’ hopes of retaking control of the U.S. Senate in November, saying any chances of such a takeover would be dashed by a Republican victory in New Mexico.
Luján, who planned to watch the Election Night results from his family home in Nambé, will have a big financial advantage over his general election opponent.
He has reported raising more than $5.3 million for his U.S. Senate bid and had about $2.7 million in his campaign account as of last month.
For his part, Ronchetti reported raising about $850,000 and spending about half of that amount.
New Mexico has not elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since the late U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici was elected to his sixth term in 2002. Domenici did not run for reelection in 2008 and the seat was won that year by Democrat Tom Udall.
After winning reelection in 2014, Udall announced in March 2019 that he would not seek reelection to a third term, setting the stage for a wide-open race for the seat.
This is New Mexico’s third open race for a U.S. Senate seat since 2008. The state previously went 36 years without an open U.S. Senate seat — during the tenures of Domenici and Democrat Jeff Bingaman.