An unsuccessful candidate for the New Mexico State House was arrested Monday during a shooting at the homes of state and local Democratic leaders in what police described as “electioneering denials.”
Republican Solomon Pena is accused of conspiring with four men to shoot up the Albuquerque-area homes of two Bernalillo County commissioners and two state legislators, Albuquerque police said. No one was injured in the shooting.
Pena may have been motivated by anger over his disappearance in November, police said. Police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said at a press conference Monday evening that Peña alleged that his defeat was the result of election fraud.
Peña lost his state House challenge to incumbent Democrat Miguel P. Garcia by 5,679 to 2,033, or 74% to 26%.
He took his case to three county commissioners and a state senator — whose homes were targeted in the shootings — to no avail, Gallegos said.
“He had complaints that he felt his election was rigged,” Gallegos said. “As the mayor said, he was an election denialist — he didn’t want to accept the results of his election.”
He said that the meeting with the local and provincial leaders was heated.
“That one actually brought up a lot of arguments, I believe,” Gallegos said. “Shortly after that there was a shooting.”
Pena was an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump, who claimed voter fraud if he lost his 2020 election, an allegation that is unfounded. He was photographed wearing a red “Make America Great Again” sweatshirt with the former president’s gold-stitched signature during his campaign last year.
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller described the attack as a product of political extremism.
“This radical is a threat to our city, our state, and our nation,” he tweeted Monday. “We will continue to push back against hate in all its forms and stop political violence.”
Detectives allege Pena gave the four men cash and texted the addresses he wanted to target, Albuquerque police said.
The key to the investigation, police said, was a Jan. 3 traffic stop of a Nissan Maxima in Pena, driven by a man named Jose Trujillo, who was arrested on a felony warrant, police said in a statement Monday.
The arrest triggered an “inventory search” of the vehicle, which was allowed under the law to seize it safely, and officers found more than 800 fentanyl pills in the center console, police said.
More significant to the incident were two handguns found in the Nissan, one of which appeared to have been fired about 40 minutes before a traffic stop outside the home of state Sen. Linda Lopez and 4 miles away, according to the latest police statement.
A gun matched a police description that Pena carried in one of the four shootings, according to a statement. The gun malfunctioned, and he shot one of the tenants, police allege. “Another gunman fired more than a dozen rounds from a separate handgun,” police said in a statement Monday night.
In addition, shell casings found in the Maxima matched those found at the scene of another shooting outside the home of new state House Speaker Javier Martinez on Dec. 8, police said.
Another casing was found in another vehicle, reported stolen, which police said was used by one of Pena’s hired shooters. That casing matched a Dec. 4 report of a shooting outside the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adrian Barboa in southeast Albuquerque, police said.
Another shooting, in which more than a dozen shots were fired at the home of then-Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley, happened on Dec. 11 and completed events that police have linked to Pena.
Two other shootings linked to the case — the Dec. 10 shooting at the former campaign office of New Mexico Attorney General-elect Raul Torrez and the Jan. 5 shooting of newly appointed state Sen. Moe Maestas – not connected to Peña, police said at a news conference.
On January 9, police announced the arrest of another suspect in the incident and said they had recovered the weapon used in one of the shootings. On Monday, police said four people besides Pena were involved, with more charges and arrests coming. The Jan. 9 suspect’s status was unclear, and police did not respond to requests for clarification.
On Monday, Police Chief Harold Medina described Pena as the initiator of the shooting.
At the press conference on Monday, he said, “It is believed that he is the main planner of this.”
A SWAT team arrested Pena Monday at his apartment in the Albuquerque area, police said.
It was unclear whether Pena has retained an attorney for the case. Inquiries sent through his campaign site have not received a response. A company related to Pena did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Albuquerque Journal describes Pena as an unsuccessful candidate for New Mexico House District 14, which represents the South Valley of the Albuquerque area.
The newspaper reported last year that Peña served nearly seven years in prison for theft during his campaign.
Police noted Monday night that Garcia, who won the election last year, deemed Peña ineligible to serve in the Legislature because of his felony conviction in a failed lawsuit.
Pena is described in a campaign email as a California native who finished high school in New Mexico, became a Navy hospital corpsman stationed in Okinawa, Japan, owns a business and earned a political science degree from the University of New Mexico in 2021.
On his campaign website, Pena promised a secure future for the state. “I will fight to provide opportunities for the next generation, keep the local economy open, and stop those who want to harm New Mexico – anyway I can,” he said.