Politics, the media, and a bear: Mark Ronchetti awarded more than $380,000 for leaked website

Aug. 11—An honest mistake? Or political sabotage?

Then-TV meteorologist Mark Ronchetti was prepared for the ups and downs of a statewide New Mexico political campaign. National entities had shown an interest and early polling looked good. He even had a "touchstone moment" with a black bear. But Ronchetti, a Republican, still hadn't officially announced his decision to run against Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Or told his boss.

A premature leak of his "Mark Ronchetti Governor" campaign website to the public on Oct. 21, 2021, changed all that.

And according to a lawsuit he later filed, Ronchetti lost his six-figure job at KRQE-TV, had to pay $40,000 to terminate his employment contract early, and damaged his future employment prospects in the TV media industry. And then he lost the gubernatorial election by a margin of 6.38 percentage points.

While concluding there wasn't enough evidence presented at trial to believe the early website leak was intentional, state District Judge Lisa Chavez Ortega of Albuquerque ordered the Florida-based political media firm Go Big Media Inc. to pay Ronchetti $386,575 in damages for its "wrongful conduct" in failing to protect the draft website from public viewing.

"It is incomprehensible and inexcusable that Defendant, responsible for handling national political campaigns, would be ignorant of the requirements to maintain the confidentiality and security of individual pages of a campaign website," wrote Ortega in a 20-page decision on July 31.

Federal equal time rules prevented Ronchetti from keeping his on-air position with KRQE while simultaneously running for public office. The rules try to ensure that no legally qualified candidate for office is unfairly given less access to the airwaves — outside of bona fide news exemptions — than their opponent.

"Unlike other political candidates, Plaintiff would have to give up his ability to take care of his family in order to run for office," Ortega wrote.

"(Go Big) knew that, because Plaintiff was a member of the media and had not yet spoken to his employer, the confidentiality of the gubernatorial campaign was particularly sensitive. Defendant knew it had to guard (Ronchetti's) information," she added.

Members of the media contacted Ronchetti on Oct. 21 after viewing the site, which Go Big blamed on "a single oversight by a single employee ... who made an honest mistake." The employee provided password protection to the main pages of the campaign website, "but mistakenly failed to provide password protection to an internal page of Plaintiff's website."

Something similar happened the first time Ronchetti ran for public office. His campaign first hired Go Big in 2019 when he ran for New Mexico's open U.S. Senate seat. Back then, his campaign website became publicly viewable one day before he was supposed to officially announce himself as a Republican candidate. The accessibility of the site on Jan. 6, 2020, was considered an "innocent" minor issue, according to court documents filed by Go Big attorneys.

Ronchetti lost that race to Democrat and then-U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, but had a stronger than expected showing, according to news reports.

Ronchetti testified at a trial in April that after the first leak he decided to continue using the firm's services after receiving assurances of confidentiality and that the first leak was an accident and wouldn't occur again.

In awarding damages, Ortega blamed the company for failing to conform to the standards of its chosen industry, "which led to two highly unusual leaks of Ronchetti's unfinished campaign websites, including a second leak after the (company) provided assurances that the first was accidental and would not occur again ..."

One filing in Ronchetti's lawsuit claimed he spoke with KRQE-TV general manager Bill Anderson before he fully decided to run for U.S. Senate and planned to do so before he committed to the governor's race.

"That was what he had done before the Senate campaign, and he had been able to leave (and return to) KRQE on good terms."

But the evening of Oct. 21, 2021, Anderson couldn't be reached and Ronchetti was told by a news editor he had to immediately resign.

He testified at trial that the resignation was "one of the worst things that ever happened in his life. The sudden loss of his salary, health insurance and other benefits for his family caused him severe distress," the judge wrote. He also "suffered significant harm to his reputation," she wrote.

Ronchetti, in his lawsuit, contended the two leaks weren't a coincidence, but were intentional.

Reached last week, Ronchetti declined to comment on the case on the advice of his attorneys, except to say, "I'm relieved the matter is resolved."

An attorney representing Go Big had no immediate answer as to whether his client would appeal.

The bear

Court records show that Ronchetti and his family had been hesitant to commit to a run for governor "and prayed about this for months."

Go Big cited Ronchetti's encounter with a bear as evidence that he knew a month earlier he would enter the race and had time to prepare his supervisors at KRQE-TV but didn't.

At the urging of his wife, Krysty, Ronchetti traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado, in September 2021 to pray for guidance on whether to run for governor, stated one filing by Go Big.

"During this trip to Breckenridge, Colorado, Mr. Ronchetti felt that he was called by God, felt God's presence, had an interaction with a bear, and otherwise realized that he should take the challenge and run in the 2022 gubernatorial race," said one Go Big court filing quoting testimony from the Ronchetti couple during three days of trial in April.

The bear story surfaced from time to time on the campaign trail and on his podcast as the "touchstone moment" he realized he would be running, the Go Big filing stated.

In a story he recounted on the first episode of their podcast last year, Ronchetti brought up the incident. He had been alone after a hike running down a trail when a "massive" black bear appeared nearby.

Though it's typically not advisable to run from a bear, Ronchetti said he did so and escaped unharmed.

"I came to the realization that there are bears on whatever path you're on in life," he said on his podcast. "There are bears," he added, advising, "keep running and keep your faith."

From 2006 through 2020, Ronchetti worked for KRQE-TV as a meteorologist.

For the year 2021, his annual salary at KRQE-TV was $223,529, the judge wrote, in determining the amount of damages to award him.

His departure from the station led to the termination of his three-year performer employment agreement that started in January 2021. His early termination penalty was reduced to $40,000 and he is ineligible for rehire with Nexstar Media Group, the station's owner.

"As a result of Defendant's conduct, Plaintiff's 15-year relationship with Bill Anderson and the station was irrevocably damaged," the judge wrote.

In a letter cited in the lawsuit, Anderson told Ronchetti that his early resignation impacted not only Ronchetti but others at the station, saying it caused "real viewing consequences (and) reputation consequences, which have business consequences."

Go Big contended that the early launch of his campaign website had "no significant impact on the launch of his Senate campaign or the outcome of the election."

These days, Ronchetti, 50, has a lower public profile. He and his wife host the "No Doubt About It" podcast.

"I absolutely do not regret running for Governor," he told the Journal in a statement on Friday. "It was the experience of a lifetime. The opportunity to meet people across the state who want to chart a better path forward was an incredible blessing. Many of us are still very passionate about the opportunity to improve New Mexico."