Failed GOP Candidate Allegedly Hired Hitmen To Target Dem. Lawmakers

A former GOP candidate for New Mexico’s House of Representatives was arrested on Monday in connection to a series of violent attacks against Democratic lawmakers in the state. Authorities say Solomon Peña was the “mastermind” behind four shootings carried out between Dec. 4, and Jan. 3. 

The shootings targeted the homes of New Mexico’s House Speaker Javier Martinez, former Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley, Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, and state Senator Linda Lopez. While no fatalities or injuries were reported, Peña stands accused of planning and coordinating the shootings with four men, some of whom authorities say may have been paid for their participation. The former state House candidate is said to have personally “pulled the trigger” in at least one of the attacks. 

Peña handily lost his 2022 bid for state office to Democrat Miguel P. Garcia, who was not singled out in the attacks. Following his loss, Peña contacted various lawmakers claiming to have evidence of electoral fraud. Several lawmakers reported that Peña came to their homes and engaged in aggressive confrontations with them. Authorities say Peña then “reached out and contracted someone for an amount of cash money to commit at least two of these shootings.” One shooting reportedly took place “within hours” of the call being made. Police determined that two other shooting attacks against Democratic officials being investigated were unrelated to Peña’s actions.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller told reporters that the arrest confirmed “that these shootings were indeed politically motivated.” Keller called Peña a “right-wing radical” and “election denier” who “did the worst imaginable thing you can do when you have a political disagreement — which is turn that to violence.” 
The lawmakers targeted in the attacks expressed gratitude for his arrest and the end to the spree of violence. “When politicians at our highest level of government continue to make threats and violence a regular part of public discourse,” Barboa told CNN, “it has real impacts on our democracy and our real lives.”