WASHINGTON — Authorities in New Mexico arrested a failed 2022 Republican New Mexico House candidate who was in D.C. for the January 6th insurrection for allegedly orchestrating recent shootings targeting the homes of Democratic elected officials. Solomon Pena went to three of these officials’ homes uninvited to rant about election fraud in a race he lost by more than 3,600 votes before the shootings police have accused him of coordinating. This is yet another example of MAGA extremists weaponizing lies of a stolen election and threatening violence against election administrators and perceived political enemies, which is quickly becoming normalized within the Republican Party.
“This kind of violence has no place in our democracy, yet the Republican Party continues to enable dangerous right-wing conspiracy theorists who want to destroy our most sacred institutions,” said DLCC vice president of communications Gabrielle Chew. “The GOP have undoubtedly emboldened extremists by spreading election lies and excusing the events of January 6th as ‘legitimate political discourse.’ Republican statements condemning the violence are an empty gesture until they are willing to root out the threats who have taken over their party. Our thoughts are with the lawmakers affected and their families who should never have to fear for their safety for being public servants.”
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee was the first and only entity committed to identifying, tracking, and condemning the hundreds of Republican state lawmakers who aided and abetted Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Now, its current Threats to Democracy website is the most comprehensive account of state legislators and state legislative candidates who continue to normalize anti-democratic extremism and are complicit in the ongoing attack on our democracy. With more than 7,300 state legislative seats nationwide, the research for this project is ongoing, and the list continues to grow.
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