Fact Check: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ad claims Mark Ronchetti wants to 'defund police'
A campaign ad was recently released by New Mexicans for Michelle, the organization running Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s campaign.
The ad attacks her Republican opponent Mark Ronchetti, saying he wants to defund the police.
“Ronchetti said it himself. He thinks New Mexico's law enforcement don't need funding,” the ad says.
It then plays a soundbite of Ronchetti saying, “They don't want more money, they don't want more guns.”
The soundbite is taken from KOAT’s Republican gubernatorial debate on May 20. But what Ronchetti said in full paints a different picture.
“We have to back the blue. We have some of the best law enforcement in the country here, and when you ask them what do you need, what would help you? The answer is simple. They don't need more money, they don't need more guns. They want the governor of New Mexico and their leaders to back them up,” he said during the debate.
Ronchetti tells Target 7 that he was shocked and disappointed when he saw the ad.
“The truth matters. When you have a governor who will brazenly lie to get re-elected, that should scare everybody in this state,” Ronchetti said.
Lujan Grisham's campaign sent us their own fact check, which questions what Ronchetti meant when he said, "They don't want more money, they don't want more guns."
So Target 7 asked Ronchetti.
“When you actually give police officers a seat at the table, the first thing they tell you is we want to know our leaders support us. The next thing they tell you is this governor doesn't. So, my point was, look, when you talk to officers. Every officer wants more support. But most of all, they want to know their leaders, back them up. And this governor clearly does not,” he said.
The governor's campaign cites a tweet as evidence Ronchetti does not want to give pay raises to police. In the tweet, he criticizes the governor's $8.5 billion budget, which includes 16% raises for state police.
“I support giving police more money, but she's grown government 40%,” he said.
Ronchetti also says giving $9 million of the $8.5 billion budget to state police is minuscule.
“Well, it's less than a percent and this is what we're talking about here. And this is the problem. When you have lifelong politicians who go and take three or four words and clip them and twist them, this is what you get," Ronchetti added.
Target 7 asked political expert Brian Sanderoff how often campaigns misconstrue a candidate's standpoint on an issue.
“It's really not unusual, unfortunately, for negative ads to stretch or distort the truth. We see it all the time,” Sanderoff said.
Sanderoff says these types of ads also don't sit well with voters.
“Voters tell me that they hate these negative ads, but the political consultants continue to use them because they think the ads are effective in swaying voters,” Sanderoff said.
The Lujan Grisham campaign says the ad was made with no money because they used in-house staff.
They also said it's not running on TV, instead its online.