On Tuesday, Republicans from across New Mexico headed to the polls and chose our GOP nominees to advance to take on the Democrats in November’s General Election. Although some of our favorite candidates may not have made it out of the primary, now is the time, as Republicans to unite around every Republican on the ballot and work to turn New Mexico RED (Remove Every Democrat) in the election.
With President Trump at the top of the ticket, and a strong selection of candidates running for federal, state, and local elected officials, the stakes could not be higher for Republicans, which is why I am proud to partner with Shauna Abney of the United Conservative Movement to unite Republicans in our state behind our great GOP nominees selected Tuesday.
Although Shauna and I differ on a few candidates, we both are putting our party and our state’s future over our personal choices, and signing the “Pledge to Vote RED NM” pledge to show we are united in our fight for our conservative values and a prosperous future for our state. The stakes are too high to not be united going into November, and this is our shot at taking back our state and reclaiming our values!
Sign the pledge and send it to every Republican you know. We must unite to turn our beautiful state of New Mexico RED in November!
On Friday, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Ronchetti’s campaign manager, Jeff Glassburner, posted yet another vicious attack on a fellow Republican. This time, the campaign is targeting candidate Elisa Martinez after she followed fellow U.S. Senate candidate, Dr. Gavin Clarkson, in running ads pointing out Ronchetti’s NeverTrumper past.
In a tweet, Glassburner wrote, “She didn’t pay her taxes for 8 years (!!!) yet thinks people should trust her to set tax policy,” with a screenshot of what appears to be a public record showing Martinez did not pay $1,355.96 in overdue taxes to the State of New Mexico.
— Jeff Glassburner (@jeffglassburner) May 22, 2020
The Piñon Post reached out to Martinez for a comment, where she vehemently denied the false accusation. Ronchetti’s campaign also failed to say the small lien referenced was fully paid off. Martinez asserted that she did not update her address, which is why the State of New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department could not get in contact with her to address the issue. Once Martinez connected with the State, she quickly paid the balance off in full.
Tax document showing Martinez had paid her taxes in full.
“This is another example of Mark Ronchetti’s lies, trying to distract and dissuade from his comments bashing President Trump and working hand-in-hand with far-left activists instead of Republicans. He should be running as a Democrat,” Martinez said. “He claims to be pro-life, and as a pro-life leader, I can assure you he has never been with us anywhere in this fight. And when we could have used his help as a media figure during our various pro-life battles, he was working with far-left Democrats to stop President Trump and push the radical climate change agenda. We cannot trust Mark Ronchetti.”
Ronchetti’s campaign has repeatedly claimed that because of his media contract with KRQE 13, he could not get involved in politics, but we know that is yet another lie because he was very involved — just not with conservative issues. He worked with climate activists to advance the climate change conspiracy theory and repeatedly bashed President Trump on the air.
In a previous statement, Glassburner said Martinez is a “desperate” candidate who has “nothing to run on,” despite her work leading a prominent pro-life group in New Mexico.
But this is just the latest false attack Ronchetti’s campaign has lobbed against fellow Republicans in this primary season, sending out Glassburner as an attack dog to peddle false talking points and conspiracy theories about Republicans of every stripe.
Before the Republican Party pre-primary convention, I did a deep investigation into Ronchetti’s background and his connection to NeverTrumpers behind the scenes of his campaign. Triggered by the revelations, Glassburner sent the Republican convention delegates a last-ditch email, in the attempt to discredit me and the facts I presented about Ronchetti’s liberal record.
Glassburner wrote to delegates, “[John] is a former intern for Senator Heinrich who then worked on Tim Keller’s mayoral campaign where he helped elect the ultra-liberal mayor who made Albuquerque a Sanctuary City.”
Glassburner failed to mention that I worked to help stop radical open-borders socialists from taking over Albuquerque by VOLUNTEERING on the Keller campaign for a little over three weeks to uncover unethical campaign practices. However, once the campaign did a simple Google search on my name and found out I was a pro-Trump Republican and my true purpose for being there, they kicked me out of the office and had me blacklisted as a “spy.”
However, my work in that short time did not go unnoticed, as an ethics probe into Keller’s campaign found that Keller did, indeed, violate the ethics code, taking thousands of dollars in both private and public financing for his far-left socialist race for mayor.
As for my two-month summer internship at the U.S. Senate, which Glassburner failed to note happened AFTER my short stint on the mayoral campaign, I applied, was accepted, and served in Martin Heinrich’s office AS A CONSERVATIVE PRO-TRUMP REPUBLICAN. I applied for an internship in then-Republican New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce’s office as well. The only office that granted me an internship was Heinrich’s. I was given the selective opportunity to serve the people of New Mexico as a Senate intern and bring a conservative perspective to the far-left office.
On the first week of the internship, the Chief of Staff called me in and said he had looked up my background, finding my staunch support for the President. He was fully aware that I was, indeed, a pro-Trump conservative Republican, and allowed me to continue with the internship for the summer despite my political leanings.
My fellow interns repeatedly attacked my Republican ideals and repeatedly attempted to have me fired from the internship, but I did not back down — and it made my conservative values and support for our 45th president that much stronger.
Heinrich has allowed various Republican college students to intern for him in the past, such as Republican Dominic Pacheco in 2016. Pacheco helped the Republican Party of New Mexico with President Trump’s election efforts, as did I. While I was fighting liberal hacks in multiple viper pits, Mark Ronchetti was bashing President Trump on-air at leftist CBS Fake News affiliate KRQE News 13.
Ronchetti’s campaign also blasted fellow Republican U.S. Senate candidate, Dr. Gavin Clarkson with a vicious slew of personal attacks, including a mailer falsely asserting that Clarkson resigned from his position at the Trump Administration with an “ethical cloud” over his head, despite a string of facts proving that was a blatant lie.
Ronchetti bashed Clarkson’s bankruptcies during the 2007-2008 financial crisis, citing a progressive opinion column in the Santa Fe New Mexican as his source. It is unclear if Ronchetti also hit President Trump’s bankruptcies, just as he has with the President’s skin color, calling him “The Orange One,” and saying in 2019 that the President took a “part of his soul” that he’s “not getting back.”
When Clarkson brought attention to the despicable anti-Trump comments Ronchetti made at a leftist climate change conference, Glassburner hit Clarkson as “a failing candidate” desperate to “get attention.”
But that’s just scratching the surface. Ronchetti also bashed former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Rick Montoya for telling delegates about Ronchetti’s deep ties to NeverTrumpers, namely that of Jay McCleskey, Ronchetti’s general consultant, known for his “slash and burn” political tactics. Ronchetti blasted Montoya with ad-hominem attacks, calling him “ham-handed.”
But even worse, before the pre-primary convention, Ronchetti called Republican convention delegates and falsely told them that then-U.S. Senate candidate Louie Sanchez had dropped out of the race, which was a bald-faced lie.
It doesn’t have to be this way, but some people just insist on playing dirty. This is usually a reflection of character or leadership, maybe both.
Ronchetti also promised a room full of hundreds of GOP delegates that he’s run a “positive” campaign, telling the conservative audience, “I will not take a shot at a fellow Republican.” That promise to Republican voters was quickly violated.
In the very same breath, Ronchetti bashed fellow Republicans asking him questions as “little Facebook trolls who are in their parents’ basement with their Cheeto-stained fingers,” a smear heard by many leftists to bash President Trump supporters.
During his KRQE 13 days, Ronchetti repeatedly mocked and hated on President Trump and other Republicans, such as former Gov. Susana Martinez, who he shamed for wearing a hard-hat while visiting a construction plant. He also laughed at President Trump’s hairstyle.
Instead of campaigning to be New Mexico’s next U.S. Senator, it appears Ronchetti is more interested in playing the high school bully, name-calling, and pushing everyone in his way just to get what he wants.
The nasty, bottom-of-the-barrel ad-hominem attacks on fellow Republicans, many of them being fellow candidates, prove that Ronchetti’s campaign is willing to go to any embarrassingly low level to win. The Republican voters will have to decide on June 2nd if they want to vote for a campaign full of sleaze and hatred for President Donald Trump, or vote for the two true Republican candidates, Dr. Gavin Clarkson and Elisa Martinez.
New Mexico’s voters have come accustomed in the last few weeks to seeing new headlines about now-disgraced ex-television weatherman Mark Ronchetti, who has scorned the conservative Republican base. In 2019, just nine months before announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate, Ronchetti lambasted President Trump as the “Orange One,” and claimed led him to leave the Republican Party, as well as taking a “part of [his] soul” that he’s “not getting back.”
.@MarkRonchettiNM's direct quote: "I’m a Christian conservative who used to be a Republican until The Orange One (@realDonaldTrump), then things…I’m afraid that has taken a part of my soul, and that’s not coming back." pic.twitter.com/2VHgHmaA4v
Such harsh language from the embattled former local weatherman toward the President has led Republicans to flee from his campaign with as much speed and passion as humanly possible. Former supporters of all stripes now write messages on social media rebuking Ronchetti. One ex-supporter writes, “I’m so sorry I wasted my donation on you,” as another one writes, “A friend of mine told me that you were a ‘NeverTrumpster’ & I said, No way !! but now you have proven me wrong. So, I am deleting your emails that you are sending me to support you in your run for U.S. Senate for N.M.”
As his crumbling base bleeds, and his campaign shills out hundreds of thousands of dollars on television ads that don’t so much as mention President Trump by name, Ronchetti has gotten desperate — and in doing so, betrayed his first campaign promise.
After yours truly uncovered damning evidence linking Ronchetti to NeverTrumpers, some who even donated $11,000 to radical leftist Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Ronchetti spoke at the Republican Party of Bernalillo County pre-primary convention. During his speech, he lost it — lashing out at Trump supporters asking him questions as “little Facebook trolls who are in their parents’ basement with their Cheeto-stained fingers.”
The leftist jab was followed by a “positive campaign” pledge he demanded all other candidates sign in order to gag questioning of his record and connections to anti-Trump rogue “Republicans,” such as Jay McCleskey, his “slash and burn” general consultant.
Ronchetti said, “In closing, I’d like to put my money where my mouth is on the ‘unity pledge,’ right? We all need to be on the same side, and I’ve taken as many arrows as anyone. I did not fire back at a fellow Republican, not once.” That turned to be blatantly false, as just second before, he bashed Republicans asking him questions as “little Facebook trolls.”
He then held up a piece of paper, saying, “This is a positive campaign pledge right here. I’m going to sign it right here. I will not take a shot at a fellow Republican. I hope my fellow Senate candidates will sign this as well.” Not a single Republican opponent signed the document.
This week, @MarkRonchettiNM sent out a mailer bashing his opponent @DrGavinClarkson with unsubstantiated attacks. By doing so, he violated his “unity pledge” which he signed in black ink in front of a room full of Republican voters. pic.twitter.com/WwLd3c3x4z
But that supposed honorable “pledge,” which he promised through his word and a stroke of his pen, was just previously violated when his campaign sent out a hit job on his fellow candidate, Gavin Clarkson, who he attacked with inaccurate claims. He sent out a mailer attacking Clarkson on his work for the Trump Administration, his previous bankruptcy shortly after the financial crash of 2007-08, and a patently false claim that he attended a protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Note: Gavin Clarkson has not said a lie or untrue thing about Mark Ronchetti, yet, Ronchetti feels the need to throw out these untrue attacks on Clarkson.
The below-the-belt, desperate hits by Ronchetti’s flailing campaign not only undermined his campaign promise, they also violated the small remnants of credibility he may have had left. With the petty attack, Ronchetti proved without any doubt whatsoever, that he is both a liar and as credible as a high school bully — thinking he can get his way with a little pushing.
Does Ronchetti want to mention that President Trump’s Interior Secretary (who Ronchetti claims fired Clarkson), hosted Clarkson and his wife Marina to the Trump Administration’s 2019 Interior Department Christmas Party, a clear disproval of Ronchetti’s conspiracy theory that Clarkson was forced out of the department?
Does Ronchetti want to bash President Trump once again by going after the President’s multiple bankruptcies out of the hundreds of businesses Trump has run? Would Ronchetti like to hit one more nail into his coffin of Trump-hating rhetoric for the fun of it?
Does Ronchetti want to explain to voters that the supposed “protest” Clarkson went to never happened and he actually went up to North Dakota to assist an old girlfriend, not “protest”? Ronchetti clearly sees his opponent as a real threat, and since this is the best attack he thinks he has, he’s using the final card in the deck — since the ones against me and other conservative Republicans flopped on their faces.
This is by no means the first attack Ronchetti’s campaign has made against Clarkson, previously sending out a statement calling him a “failing candidate,” despite Ronchetti’s voters running for the hills, not Clarkson’s.
The vengeful and cowardly tactics of Ronchetti’s campaign are more apparent now than they ever were before — and the weatherman’s lies aren’t fooling anyone. Mark Ronchetti is a NeverTrumper, always has been, always will be. Petty hits on the President such as calling him the “Orange One,” and mocking his hairstyle show just what kind of Senator he would be — no better than radical Democrats Elizabeth Warren or Cory Booker. If he’s looking for his “Spartacus” moment, he sure isn’t getting it with the negative campaign he’s running.
Late Tuesday, it was reported that Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration, Olivia Padilla-Jackson, will be stepping down from her post as the state bleeds cash due to a sharp fall in oil production.
According to the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, the oil and gas industry contributes 39% to the state’s general fund, and the industry is hurting due to the impact of an oil price war with the Russians and Saudi Arabia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The news comes as Lujan Grisham will be forced to deal with the implications of the crisis after she signed a bloated budget of $7.6 billion, which passed on strictly party-lines through the state House, while some fair-weather Republicans voted for it in the Senate. The budget is a 7.5% increase from the previous year’s budget, despite calls of irresponsible spending by Republicans, looking to set aside money for the state’s savings account.
“Because of our undisciplined and reckless spending, the oil and gas industry will collapse and we’ll be in here and it will be even more painful than it was six years ago,” said Rep. Jason Harper (R-Rio Rancho), predicting the inevitable fall of the oil boom, which came not months after the wreckless budget passed.
Now, it appears Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham may be pushing finance chief Olivia Padilla-Jackson out of her role, as the scapegoat for the Governor’s “irresponsible” budget has come back to bite her. The Governor’s office did not comment on Padilla-Jackson’s resignation but did comment on the person she appointed to fill the post in the interim.
Debbie Romero, who is deputy secretary and a longtime department official, will replace Padilla-Jackson as acting secretary, who Lujan Grisham’s press secretary Norma Meyers Sackett said is “eminently qualified.”
In recent weeks, the Governor has been increasingly hostile to the press asking questions to her cabinet secretaries, even the extremely liberal Santa Fe New Mexican, which was scolded for reaching out for a comment. Meyers Sackett emailed to the liberal paper, “Media inquiries should be directed straight to me. Do not email cabinet secretaries.”
In 2019, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pushed out her then-education secretary Karen Trujillo, Ph.D. not six months into her job, who said the firing came out of nowhere. The “Governor’s Office hadn’t raised any issues with her job performance that would make [her] think [her] employment was in jeopardy,” said Trujillo.
Michelle Lujan Grisham may now be calling a special session to fix her budget woes, as Republicans are ready to work with her in fixing her mess, caused by irresponsible budgeting by Democrats and the Governor’s Administration.
On Monday, GOP U.S. Senate candidate Gavin Clarkson’s campaign released a damning resurfaced video of fellow “Republican” candidate Mark Ronchetti attending a leftist “climate change” symposium, in which he brutally lambasted President Trump claiming President Trump or as he referred to him as the “Orange One” drove him to leave the Republican Party. He said, “I’m afraid that that has taken a part of my soul.”
The footage is from March 21, 2019 — a little over one year ago, and well into the Trump presidency. The climate change sumposium was the same day the Mueller Report came out.
According to the coverage of the climate change event by the Daily Lobo, “New Mexico exhibits the effects of climate change in the form of increased forest fires and drought, Ronchetti said.”
During the video, Ronchetti also said he’s been on-board with “the idea of climate change for over 20 years,” and he mocked people who choose to have an SUV because of climate change. He also said we need to “replace” the oil and gas industry in New Mexico — including the suggestion that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham cannot push forth her current environmental policies without oil and gas paying the check.
“With Nancy Pelosi and her socialist comrades already setting the stage for another impeachment,” Clarkson says, “Republicans can’t afford to nominate another Never-Trumper like Mitt Romney. We’ve got to have a nominee President Trump knows he can count on to help flip New Mexico red, someone who has actually stood with President Trump even when doing so involved extreme personal sacrifice.”
Now, Ronchetti, the proven NeverTrump candidate for U.S. Senate is once again clinging to the party he claims he left, — while blowing the NeverTrump dog whistle in defiance of the President.
The video of his remarks start at 41:30
.@MarkRonchettiNM's direct quote: "I’m a Christian conservative who used to be a Republican until The Orange One (@realDonaldTrump), then things…I’m afraid that has taken a part of my soul, and that’s not coming back." pic.twitter.com/2VHgHmaA4v
.@MarkRonchettiNM: "We all live in a state that is funded by oil and gas. That's a fact. You can look at what [@GovMLG]'s done over the past three months (NM's 'Green New Deal). She's not doing any of that without huge oil and gas revenue. So, we have to replace that." pic.twitter.com/mGQf5OGFTW
Conservative Republicans warned Republicans on multiple occasions to be wary of Ronchetti, due to his NeverTrump connections, Republican-bashing language, lack of a Republican primary voting record, among other things — and the newly-resurfaces video proves the deep-seated hatred Ronchetti has for President Trump.
During his campaign, Ronchetti viciously lashed out at anyone asking questions of him, branding them as “little Facebook trolls who are in their parents’ basement with their Cheeto-stained fingers.”
Ronchetti also hired the single most divisive politicó in the state of New Mexico, NeverTrumper Jay McCleskey, known for his “slash and burn” campaign strategies. According to a former staffer, McCleskey “will do anything to win, no matter what it takes. … He will destroy you as an opponent.”
The NeverTrump dots are all coming together, as Ronchetti has proven to not only be on President Trump’s team but as he claimed in the 2019 video, he does not even identify with the Republican Party. The new development in the race for Senate now pins two conservative Republicans, Dr. Gavin Clarkson and Elisa Martinez against each other to take the Republican nomination, as the resurfaced video is certain to cripple the remnants of Ronchetti’s campaign.
The 2020 primary is right around the corner, and this could not be a more important election for our state.
This election is New Mexico’s last shot at turning our state red, which is why I want to make absolutely sure you are registered to vote this election.
As our state has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen exactly what Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (MLG) and the Radical Democrats will do in times of crisis — take advantage of a deadly plague as an opportunity to force through socialism far and wide and ram our beautiful state directly into the ground.
As our state has shut down and commerce has ceased, MLG has taken EVERYTHING away from working families — from their jobs that pay the rent, to the places of worship that give communities hope and light. As promised, she rammed our state directly into a wall.
But while the hard-working people of New Mexico are forced to pinch pennies, uncertain if they can afford to feed their children, MLG and the Radical Democrats let big corporate box stores and late-term abortion clinics stay wide open.
It may or may not be a coincidence that the same places MLG allows to stay open gave thousands in cash to the Governor’s campaign account. Walmart flushed $7,500 toward her campaign, while the abortion industry threw $22,000 her way.
With this crisis, we now know what the Democrats will do if given power. Even before this crisis, Democrats spent money like it was going out of style, funding irresponsible free daycare programs, raising her cabinet’s salaries by 17%, passing New Mexico’s “Green New Deal,” which will gradually erase the critical oil and gas industry, among other dangerous measures.
Other than her reckless spending, MLG tried to force through radical abortion-up-to-birth and infanticide legislation, passed an unconstitutional assault to the Second Amendment in the form of a “red flag” bill, ripped away counties’ right-to-work laws that protect workers, ordered the New Mexico National Guard to abandon the U.S./Mexico border, and so many other foolish actions.
While New Mexico families remain in poverty and starve as MLG lets COVID-19 ravage our state so she can play politics, it is clear that Democrats do not have New Mexicans in mind. Our state has had nearly 90 years of Democrat rule, and it has done nothing but sink to the bottom of the nation, placing 50th in just about everything.
The 2020 election could not be more critical. We cannot afford to allow Democrats any more time in power. They’ve proven without a shadow of a doubt that if given unchecked political dominance, they will pounce on the opportunity to push through their socialist agenda.
This is our absolute last chance to make a difference — and it’s critical that you are registered to vote and that your party registration reads “Republican.”
VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMATION
The primary election is coming up, and our mandate to send forth the strongest candidates to take on the socialist Democrats should be our highest priority.
So, please make sure you are registered to vote by clicking this link. Although you may think you are already registered, irregularities are known to happen. Double-checking is an easy way to make absolutely sure you are registered.
If you are not registered to vote, you can easily fill out an online form and register. Please make sure you are registering as a Republican to ensure you can vote in the GOP primary, as well as the general election. The form can be found by clicking this link.
If you are registered as a “Declined to State,” “Libertarian,” “Democrat,” or anything else, please change your voter registration to “Republican” to make sure you can participate in the primary election. You can update your registration to Republican by clicking this link.
Lastly, If you are unsure if you can make it to the voting booth to vote this election, don’t let that stop you. Order an absentee ballot to make sure your vote is counted! Request a ballot by clicking here.
Together, we can and will turn our state around, and it starts with everyone reading this to share this critical information with your family, friends, and other loved ones so that they can also help us flip New Mexico red in November. As a team, we can get New Mexico families back to work and lift our great state out of this mess.
John Block is the editor of the Piñon Post and a longtime New Mexico political activist. With the Piñon Post, John looks to bring true representation to conservatives in the Land of Enchantment and cut through the mainstream media red tape by providing independent, fair, and conservative journalism to New Mexico. Follow John on Twitter @JohnforNM or send him an email at John@PinonPost.com.
Opinions offered by Piñon Post contributors in no way, shape, or form represent the viewpoints of the publication or its editorial staff. Submit an op-ed to the Piñon Post at: news@pinonpost.com.
