The old saying goes fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice; shame on me.

Unless you're a former TV anchor and a twice-failed politician.

Former KRQE weatherman Mark Ronchetti is suing a political consulting company that he says screwed up his campaign website….twice.

Andrew Oxford of the Santa Fe Reporter writes that Ronchetti is suing a political consulting firm he says botched the launch of his campaign websites both during the 2022 election and when he was running for Senate earlier. The second mistake, the lawsuit says, forced an abrupt end to his career as a weatherman at KRQE.

In his lawsuit, Ronchetti says he first hired Virginia-based Go Big Media to work on the website for his unsuccessful 2020 US Senate campaign against Democrat Ben Ray Luján.

As he prepared to jump from local television to the campaign trail, Ronchetti reached an agreement with KRQE to leave his position as chief meteorologist on January 6, 2020 (hmmm…interesting date), according to the lawsuit.

But Ronchetti says his campaign website appeared live online that evening and was “leaked” to the media, before Ronchetti formally announced his candidacy.

Ronchetti returned to KRQE after that race and despite the bungled campaign launch in 2020, the lawsuit says he reached out to Go Big Media again to work on the website for his 2022 gubernatorial bid.

The lawsuit says Ronchetti demanded confidentiality during the drafting phase of the website.

Again, though, the website appeared online in October 2021 before Ronchetti had formally launched his campaign, catching the eye of political reporters.

“The second leak also occurred before Mr. Ronchetti had announced his candidacy, and in fact before he had made his final decision whether to run,” the lawsuit says. “As a result of this leak, Mr. Ronchetti was forced to resign immediately and without warning from his job at KRQE-TV.”

The lawsuit argues that this caused “financial losses, loss of reputation, damage to his campaign, damage to his employment prospects, and other economic and noneconomic damages.”

The lawsuit comes as Ronchetti’s next steps are unclear. He has not returned to KRQE and is now 0-2 in statewide elections with a US Senate race looming in 2024.

Filed in Albuquerque during February, the lawsuit does not specify how much money Ronchetti is seeking from Go Big Media but seeks compensatory and punitive damages, accusing the company of unfair or deceptive trade practices, breach of contract and negligence.

So, you claimed the company screwed up your first political run and yet you hire them a second time.

I’m no judge, but I would toss this lawsuit in two seconds.

Also, clearly Ronchetti wants to be a politician (even though he’s not very good at it) and wants TV as a backup plan.

No station should hire this guy.

In my opinion.