Lujan Grisham, Ronchetti trade barbs in final debate

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and her Republican rival Mark Ronchetti duked it out during a heated one-hour televised debate Wednesday, clashing on crime, abortion and other key issues while hurling insults at each other.

Ronchetti accused the governor of making "a blizzard of excuses" for her failed policies, while Lujan Grisham cast the former television weatherman as an inexperienced "TV personality" whose only real plan is to ban abortion in New Mexico.

The governor's race debate, sponsored by KOAT-TV, the Albuquerque Journal and KKOB-AM, came less than a month before the Nov. 8 election and a day after the start of early voting.

Each candidate had an opportunity to ask the other a question during the event — and they both deflected.

Ronchetti, who went first, asked Lujan Grisham why she had a former campaign staffer who had accused her of grabbing his crotch sign a nondisclosure agreement as part of a $150,000 settlement and then outlawed such agreements in the state about two months later.

"Why shouldn't your victim be able to talk?" Ronchetti asked her.

"You have spent your entire campaign attacking my character and my integrity," Lujan Grisham responded. "They are baseless attacks and you do that, including now, to hide from the fact that, again, you're a TV personality with no experience."

During the debate, which included a question directed specifically at each candidate, a journalist asked Lujan Grisham about the settlement with James Hallinan, her spokesman during her first campaign for governor, and she deflected then, too.

"We provided absolute disclosure about this issue and provided that information directly to individuals," she said.

Lujan Grisham didn't exactly shine a light on the sexual harassment settlement.

The payouts to Hallinan appeared as "legal expenses" in the governor's campaign finance reports and were made to a law firm, not directly to Hallinan.

The news media uncovered the connection between Hallinan and the law firm that represented him in the sexual harassment case.

The governor's campaign also has refused to divulge details of a $72,556 payment to an Albuquerque-based law firm believed to have represented Lujan Grisham in the matter.

Like Lujan Grisham, Ronchetti pivoted when he was asked a direct question. His dealt with his stance on abortion.

Ronchetti has advocated for an abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy except in cases involving rape, incest or when a mother's life is at risk.

But his stated position has been thrown into doubt since July when the Rev. Steven Smothermon, the pastor of an Albuquerque megachurch, told his congregation Ronchetti had revealed to him privately his end goal is to end abortion in New Mexico — but first he needs to get elected.

"First, did you tell him that, and if not, why do you think he said that to his congregation?" Ronchetti was asked.

"You have to ask Pastor Smothermon that," he replied. "But I will tell you this. I told him everything I told everybody else in this, and that is that I am pro-life, but I also believe that this is a very, very personal issue and we need to treat it as such."

Ronchetti, who recently proposed a constitutional amendment to allow voters to directly decide on abortion rights in New Mexico, also said he has never called for a ban on abortion.

"There's only one person in this race who is an extremist on this issue, and it's the governor," he said.

When Lujan Grisham had the opportunity to ask Ronchetti a question, she asked, "What is misoprostol?"

Ronchetti didn't answer.

"Here we go again," he responded. "This is what 25 years in government gets you. This gets you a governor who wants to play Jeopardy."

Ronchetti used his time to continue to attack the governor over the sexual harassment complaint.

"You said you've been more transparent than any governor in history," he said. "Governor, you grabbed a male staffer's crotch, a gay male, and then you said, 'Is there anything down there?' You then paid him $150,000, governor, and then you made him shut up about it."

Ronchetti called Lujan Grisham a "hypocrite," even accusing her of partying with friends at Navajo Lake while the state was on lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lujan Grisham used her second and final opportunity for rebuttal to address Ronchetti's accusations head-on.

"He talks about a blizzard. This is a blizzard of nonsense," she said, adding she would have been photographed if she was "doing anything that was a violation of the COVID rules."

The governor also accused Ronchetti of violating public health orders while he was campaigning for the U.S. Senate in 2020, though she didn't offer specifics.

"Now let me tell you what misoprostol is," she said. "It is a lifesaving drug for women often required for medical abortions that now women can get to treat cancer. If you don't know what that is and ... you don't know the importance of providing comprehensive health care access, you don't deserve to be governor."

In his closing statement, Ronchetti said he and Lujan Grisham offer "very different" visions for the state.

"We can be a state that looks out for you before it looks out for government, but you have to give us a chance at change," he said.

Lujan Grisham agreed voters have "two very distinct choices" in the race for governor.

"I believe in the cornerstones that we have built on every aspect ... instead of reducing budgets and creating bans," she said before invoking the tagline of anti-Ronchetti memes that went viral.

"Bad for New Mexicans, bad for New Mexico," she said.