Sandoval County GOP and Dems react to fire at Republican Party headquarters

RIO RANCHO — Representatives from the Democratic and Republican parties of Sandoval County agree that the suspected arson of the state GOP’s headquarters in Albuquerque on March 30 should be condemned and anyone who committed the act should be held accountable. But neither can agree whether rhetoric from Democrats might have led to the attack.

Beth Dowling, chair of the Republican Party of Sandoval County, and Greg Bennett, newly elected chair of the Democrats of Sandoval County, spoke out just days after the Republican Party of New Mexico’s headquarters on San Francisco Street Northeast was substantially burned and vandalized. No one was hurt, and Albuquerque Fire Rescue described the case as an “active arson investigation,” with federal agencies assisting as needed, according to a report from The Albuquerque Journal.

In the fire’s aftermath, New Mexico Senate Republicans were quick to take aim at U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández’s remarks at a recent town hall in Santa Fe in which she told her supporters to “legislate, litigate, agitate” changes by President Donald Trump’s administration. The senators took this to mean she was inciting the kind of violence that is exemplary of the attack on the state GOP headquarters. Leger Fernández has denied the accusations and denounced the burning of the headquarters.

In an interview Tuesday, Dowling said the rhetoric that Leger Fernández and Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury used at recent town halls left her concerned.

“I wasn’t there, but I will tell you, there are comments that can be construed as ‘Let’s go take action!’” Dowling said.

Bennett, meanwhile, denounced the violence against the GOP headquarters, and he hoped anyone who was involved in the fire would be prosecuted.

“We don’t advocate for anything that isn’t peaceful,” Bennett said. “This type of behavior doesn’t get you anywhere.”

He added his belief that the fire was not committed by a member of the Democratic Party of Sandoval County, though he later said the incident might have stemmed from a registered Democrat or members of the party.

Dowling said she could not say who burned the headquarters, but “it wouldn’t be a Republican.”

She defended the Republican Party of New Mexico’s initial statement about the fire in which it said the incident was “fueled in part by the silence and implicit encouragement from progressive leaders who refuse to condemn these acts.” The statement also blamed the Democratic Party for “attempts to suppress free speech, silence dissent and use fear to control the political narrative.”

Dowling declined to cite those portions of the statement and instead accused statement lawmakers of being “soft on crime” during the recent legislative session. Dowling also noted the special session called for by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who said in a news release that action is needed to address ongoing public safety issues in the wake of the Las Cruces tragedy in which three teenagers were killed, on March 21. Fifteen others were injured in the shooting.

“Crime should be the No. 1 focus,” Dowling said.