Mark Ronchetti parlayed his high name recognition and hefty campaign war chest into a big victory over four Republican challengers to become the GOP’s nominee for governor of New Mexico.
The former Albuquerque television personality narrowly lost a bid for US Senate in 2020—a race that gained him statewide notoriety.
The advantages helped Ronchetti garner 58 percent of the vote in June 8’s Republican primary, while none of his lesser-known opponents broke out of the mid or low-teens.
The Albuquerque Journal called the race for Ronchetti around 8 p.m. on election night.
In a victory speech before a gathering of his supporters at the Marriott Hotel in Albuquerque, Ronchetti did his best to patch up the wounds that the oft-times bare-knuckled primary campaign may have caused in Republican ranks….