Mark Ronchetti, a former Albuquerque television meteorologist, has won New Mexico’s Republican nomination for governor.Mr. Ronchetti, who was declared
Mark Ronchetti, a former Albuquerque television meteorologist, has won New Mexico’s Republican nomination for governor.
Mr. Ronchetti, who was declared the winner by The Associated Press, defeated a field of four other candidates for the right to challenge Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, in the general election.
The November election will be Mr. Ronchetti’s second try at statewide office, after losing in his first bid to unseat Senator Ben Ray Luján in 2020.
Mr. Ronchetti had a large lead in public polling before the primary and raised nearly twice as much money as his nearest Republican rival, Rebecca Dow, a state legislator from Truth or Consequences, a small city in southern New Mexico.
Both Mr. Ronchetti and Ms. Dow campaigned on devoting more resources to the state’s border with Mexico. She accused him of being insufficiently loyal to former President Donald J. Trump. In a television commercial, she showed footage of Mr. Ronchetti distancing himself from the G.O.P., saying, “I used to be a Republican until the orange one.”
Mr. Trump did not endorse a candidate in the race.
Mr. Ronchetti pledged to increase the state’s education standards and fight crime, which he said was “out of control” in the state.
Other Republicans in the race included Greg Zanetti, a financial adviser and retired officer in the Army National Guard; Jay Block, a county commissioner from the Albuquerque suburbs; and Ethel Maharg, a former small-town mayor and the executive director of the Right to Life Committee of New Mexico.
Ms. Lujan Grisham is considered a heavy favorite against Mr. Ronchetti, though New Mexico has elected Republicans as governor in past G.O.P. wave elections.
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