Albuquerque, NM – Mark Ronchetti demonstrated to the voters of New Mexico that a new direction is needed for the state. Over the past four years Governor Lujan Grisham has shown that decades of government experience mean nothing when you decide to ignore the people that you represent. 

On crime, Ronchetti pointed out how the mantra of Governor Lujan Grisham’s administration is, “When in doubt, let ‘em out.” She has appointed catch and release judges, reduced the prison population by 20%, signed an executive order to release criminals from prison early, and appointed a soft-on-crime parole board. 

Ronchetti laid out a clear plan to address crime across the state, focusing on ending the disastrous catch and release policies that the governor refuses to end, appointing tough on crime judges, and enhancing the state’s 3 strikes law. New Mexicans deserve to feel safe in their communities again and Mark will follow through on his promise to restore public safety. 

On the issue of education, Ronchetti laid out his plans to help our kids catch up from the governor’s extreme school shutdowns, get more money into the classrooms, and reduce class sizes. The governor’s decision to shutdown schools longer than any other state has had catastrophic consequences for our children and she has no plan to help us catch up. 

On CYFD, Ronchetti pointed out that the governor is being sued for covering up the state’s actions in a tragic child’s death to protect the governor politically. Ronchetti said, “we need to focus on protecting kids, not politicians.”

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham struggled to defend her record and resorted to simply lying. For example, when pressed on the fact that New Mexico has the 6th highest COVID death rate, she claimed that states like Texas had a higher death rate. That is clearly false. 

The governor claimed – without any facts whatsoever – that if Mark Ronchetti was governor, abortion would be illegal right now in New Mexico. That is false. She claimed Ronchetti supports a ban. That too is false. Ronchetti has called for voters to decide the issue in a special election and his personal position – allowing abortion up to 15 weeks and in the cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother – is consistent with the countries of Western Europe. On the other hand, as Ronchetti pointed out in the debate, the governor’s extreme position is in line with China and North Korea. 

Ronchetti closed by calling on New Mexicans to choose a brighter tomorrow by embracing change. “We can address crime, we can address the issues like education that affect us, and we can address making sure that your family has everything it needs to be successful. But we have to support change to do it and I would appreciate your vote.” 

There was a lot of bluster from the Governor tonight, so below is the fact sheet of where each candidate stands on topics that came up during the debate:

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Crime

• Mark’s position:
• He will end catch and release in New Mexico.
• He will enhance New Mexico’s 3-strikes law to include all classes of rape, kidnapping, and assault. New Mexico’s current law has never been used – Mark will change that.
• He will appoint tough-on-crime judges who will carry out just and fair sentencing.
• Mark is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police and Albuquerque Police Officers Association. 
• Truth about Michelle:
• She released HUNDREDS of criminals out of prison early, only rescinding the order this past week. 
• Our prison population is down 20% while violent crime is up 30%.
• Record murders.
• 2nd most violent state in the nation.
• She has appointed catch and release judges who pass weak sentences and constantly let criminals out of jail.
• She has failed to end catch and release and accepted the maximum contribution from the creator of the Catch and Release (Arnold) tool.

• Mark’s position:
• Mark will implement programs to catch kids up from COVID learning loss.
• Ensure that more money is making it into the classroom, not being wasted in administration.
• Recognize parental rights in their children’s education including knowing the curriculum, knowing overall school performance, and having the ability to send their kid to the public school that best fits their needs.
• Truth about Michelle:
• Shutdown our schools longer than nearly every other state. 
• New Mexico is 51st in academic achievement.
• Nearly ¾ of our kids cannot read nor do math to proficiency.

• Mark’s position:
• Will cut taxes for low and middle income families.
• Cut the GRT every year of his administration.
• Provide sustained economic relief for working families through tax cuts and the oil and gas rebate program.
• Truth about Michelle:
• One of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
• 40% of small businesses closed due to her draconian lockdowns
• 1,200 restaurants will never reopen their doors.
• She supports high GRT rates that smothers small businesses with tax pyramiding.

• Mark’s position:
• Create an Independent Child Protection division.
• Increase transparency by making regular reports and data public.
• Create Independent Watchdog Ombudsman for increased accountability.
• Truth about Michelle:
• She weakened child abuse laws.
• Continues to let kids be returned to dangerous situations.
• Deleted communications to cover up mismanagement in a tragic CYFD death case in order to protect MLG and the administration politically.

• Mark’s position:
• Redeploy the national guard to the border and get more resources to local law enforcement.
• End sanctuary policies in our state that encourage illegal immigration.
• Create Border Strike Force within DPS to disrupt drug cartel activity in New Mexico.
• Truth about Michelle:
• Removed the national guard from the border.
• Weak laws that attract cartel and gang activity, including a gang connected to the Sinaloa Cartel who were busted with 1 million fentanyl pills in the South Valley this month.
• Made New Mexico a sanctuary state where police are prohibited from notifying federal law enforcement when they arrest illegal immigrants who commit crimes in New Mexico.

• Mark’s position:
• Repeal or fix HB75 which is chasing doctors out of the state, increasing wait times and decreasing access to healthcare.
• Incentivize doctors and other medical professionals to move to New Mexico to work, especially in our rural communities (Doctor GI Bill).
• Break down barriers to being a doctor here by improving the economic environment for them.
• Truth about Michelle:
• Signed HB75, allowing doctors to be sued for up to $4 million, driving doctors out of state.
• We are 330 MDs short, including being short 60 OBGYNs
• Consistently ranked in the top 5 worst states to practice medicine because of policies she champions

• Mark’s position:
• Supports holding a special election to let the people of New Mexico decide this issue. 
• Mark’s personal position is to end late-term abortion and protect access to contraception. Mark’s position is consistent with the vast majority of countries in Europe. 
• Repeal/fix HB 75 so we can attract OBGYNs back into this state to protect access to women’s healthcare.
• Truth about Michelle:
• Michelle wants politicians to decide this issue and not let the people of New Mexico have a say.
• Supports taxpayer funded late-term abortion up to the moment of birth without any limits. 
• MLG’s position on abortion is so extreme it’s only shared by countries like North Korea and China.

Original source can be found here.