Even in a period when we have experienced increased political violence in our country – assassinations, attempted assassinations, and efforts to violently reject election results – most of the anger directed at election officials has been limited to threats without escalating into physical attacks.
Last year’s sentencing of a disgruntled candidate, who responded to his 2022 loss in a New Mexico state legislative race with a series of shootings, stands as a stark reminder that threats sometimes do foretell real acts of violence.
Solomon Peña received 26% of the vote in his campaign against a sitting member of the state House of Representatives. He blamed election officials for his loss. In the weeks after, he visited two of the county commissioners who were later targeted. They would vote on whether to certify the election, and he urged them to reject it. The day of the first shooting, he texted another losing candidate about “election-rigging,” writing, “we have to act…the enemy will eventually break.”
Peña paid acquaintances to launch the attacks. Visiting the homes of four public officials, they fired gunshots at the houses. At one home, they fired eight shots, three into the room of a state senator’s sleeping daughter. One of the shots was close enough to the girl to blow sheetrock dust onto her face. Peña himself took part in this final attack.
The shooting spree unraveled when one of the shooters was stopped for a traffic offense and arrested under a warrant for an unrelated felony charge. A gun found in his vehicle was linked back to the shootings, and a search of his phone yielded texts from Peña providing the addresses of the four targets and expressing his anger at the certification of election results. An informant testified that the shooters intentionally shot above windows late at night to lessen the chance of hitting someone, but Peña was dissatisfied that the bullet impacts were “so high.” He insisted that the next attack take place at 8:00 pm, and that the gunmen aim lower so they were more likely to hit someone.
A jury found Peña guilty of 13 felony counts, including four counts of intimidation and interference with federally protected activities and three counts of solicitation to commit a crime of violence. He was sentenced to 80 years in prison.
As noted in the opening paragraph, actual violence against election personnel has been rare. We highlight this incident to discourage complacency. Since a violent incident could happen, it is important to take measures to reduce your vulnerability. The Resource Library section of this issue presents a guide that offers suggestions. Taking intentional steps can reduce anxiety about an event that is extremely unlikely because you know you’ve improved your security posture.
The Situation Room focuses on real security incidents and threats in the news relevant to election security. To review previous issues, see the newsletter archive.