Jan.18

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

   

GOP 49

Defeated Republican Candidate Tries to Gun Down His Former Opponents

There was a time when this story would have been at the very top of the page. But in the current milieu, it's approaching dog-bites-man territory. Consider the following sequence of events:

1. Republican runs for office and loses
2. Republican is convinced his "victory" was stolen from him
3. Republican is unable to overturn the results and reclaim his "victory," because he didn't actually win
4. Republican decides to take matters into his own hands

Which part of this is even a little bit implausible in the year 2023?

The specific Republican, in this case, is Solomon Peña, an avowed Trumper, who was running for the seat representing New Mexico state House district 14. He does not seem to have taken notice of the fact that HD-14 is in deep-blue Albuquerque. In any event, Peña was trounced by 48 points, 74%-26%. In the weeks thereafter, he showed up unannounced at the residences of various election officials to rant and rave about how he was cheated. And a few weeks later, Peña and several accomplices fired shots at the homes of four Democrats—two county commissioners and two state legislators. He was arrested yesterday, in possession of ample evidence of his crimes.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the attacks, although the one against Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa could have done much harm if Barboa had been at home. We really have very little to add to this story, other than to repeat what we've already written before: Eventually, someone is going to get killed by one of these aggrieved Trumpers. And then we shall see what the former president and his enablers do with that. Our guess? Thoughts and prayers. (Z)