Getting Smothered: High Profile ABQ Pastor Rocks Ronchetti From Bully Pulpit;
Getting Smothered: High Profile ABQ Pastor Rocks Ronchetti From Bully Pulpit; Says Candidate Told Him He Wants All Abortions Banned; Dems Make Hay; Complete Coverage And Analysis Of Key Campaign Moment
Rev. Smotherman ABQ's pugnacious and politically potent evangelical pastor has injected himself into the '22 gubernatorial contest, possibly changing the course of the campaign that will determine the state's next chief executive.
Legacy Church Reverend Steve Smotherman knocked the wind out of GOP nominee Mark Ronchetti last week, taking to his bully pulpit and declaring that Ronchetti wasn't telling the whole story about his stand on the hot button issue of abortion--that the candidate not only favors restricting abortion to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy but personally told him that if elected he will support banning the procedure entirely.
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It isn't only the ultra-conservative abortion position Smotherman claimed Ronchetti adopted in a private meeting, it's the redefining of Ronchetti's character that is also devastating. He has run as an outsider, an anti-politician and fighter of the "political elites" but here he is, according to Smotherman, making a backroom deal and doing what the politicians do that he often attacks--saying one thing and doing another. That makes the ice underneath him in Bernalillo County even thinner and has the race firmly leaning toward the incumbent.
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