Money spent and poll outcome correlate

Money can’t buy you love, but it can buy you TV spots. And in the race to be the Republican gubernatorial nominee, it proved essential.

The last of the primary polls dropped Sunday, and the results were not surprising. Former weatherman Mark Ronchetti dominated with a 28-point lead over his next closest opponent in the five-man race.

“Forty-five percent of likely primary election voters surveyed recently said they would vote for Ronchetti, a former KRQE-TV meteorologist who ran unsuccessfully for an open U.S. Senate seat in 2020,” the Albuquerque Journal, which paid for the poll, reported.

“The next-closest candidate was Rebecca Dow, a state representative, who received the backing of 17% of the GOP voters surveyed.” 

Greg Zanetti received 9%, Jay Block 8%, and Ethel Maharg 1%. Twenty-one percent were undecided.

While the runners up placed in a different order than an early May KOB4 poll, the results tracked closely with how much money each candidate has spent so far in the race.

Of the $2.5 million spent in the GOP primary, 42% was spent by Ronchetti, according to the latest finance reports. He finished with 44% support in the KOB4 poll and 45% in the Journal poll. 

Dow’s $841,000 in campaign spending represents 15% of the total spent on the race, while she garnered 9% and 17% in the two polls.

Zanetti’s $400,000 spent earned 10% and 9%, respectively, while Block’s $213,000 drew 12% and 8% in the polls.

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