Mark Ronchetti Cozies Up to Ron DeSantis and his Extreme Agenda in New Mexico

“MAGA [devotee]” Mark Ronchetti welcomed Ron DeSantis to New Mexico with open arms yesterday — showing New Mexicans just how out of touch he really is with the issues that matter to them. New Mexico is just one stop for DeSantis on his radical campaign tour. DeSantis is also rallying alongside fellow extreme candidates for governor like Kari Lake in Arizona, and Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania.

While Ronchetti was warm and fuzzy with Ron DeSantis, he shut out some local press from the event and limited access for others. Ronchetti, who has said he’s never backed down from his support for Donald Trump, confirmed by campaigning alongside DeSantis that he’s looking to extremists like Trump and DeSantis for inspiration and would bring their radical far-right policies to New Mexico.

Ronchetti is cut from the exact same cloth as his biggest idols. Just like Trump and DeSantis, Ronchetti:

• Sympathizes with extremist and violent white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and the Three Percenters. Ronchetti refused to denounce far-right fringe groups and seemed to indicate the groups were unfairly criticized.

• Wants to ban abortion. Like Desantis and Trump, Ronchetti opposes a woman’s right to choose and wants make abortions illegal by passing policies that punish doctors who provide abortion care.

• Denies the realities of climate change. Even though he is a former weatherman, Ronchetti claimed “Climate change doesn’t cause fires, come on.” Ronchetti has no answer for how he’d address the climate crisis and mitigate future wildfires, even as New Mexico faces increased climate threats.

• Wants to cut funding for public education in New Mexico, destroying the public school system by taking critical state dollars away from rural public schools to give it to wealthy people to help send their kids to private schools. Ronchetti also opposes the Opportunity Scholarship, which provides tuition-free education to New Mexico students and he called Gov. Lujan Grisham’s expansion of affordable childcare a step on an “extremist march towards socialism.”

“Cozying up to extremists like DeSantis isn’t saving Ronchetti’s flailing campaign,” said DGA Communications Director David Turner. “It’s showing New Mexico voters the kind of radical agenda Ronchetti wants to enact if elected. Working families want leaders who will continue to move the state forward — not a Trump or a DeSantis 2.0.”