WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump he promised to pardon many of his supporters were convicted of crimes related to the January 6 Capitol attack if elected in November.
Further down the ballot in the 2024 election, several convicted rioters and others involved in the attack on the Capitol are themselves running for local and national office.
This fall will also see a candidate on the other side of the conflict on January 6, 2021. Harry Dunn, a former Capitol police officer who faced a crowd of rioters, trying to replace Retired Democratic Representative John Sarbanes of Maryland. The primary in that race will be held on May 14.
NBC News has identified seven candidates vying for reelection this year who attended Trump’s “Stop Stealing” rally at the Capitol on or before Jan. 6, plus three others who ran but already lost in the primaries. Only one candidate — Derrick Evans of West Virginia — returned NBC News’ request for comment for this story.
Kimberly Dragoo, Missouri
Kimberly Dragu, who pleaded guilty in connection with the Jan. 6 attack runs to sit down Missouri in St. Joseph in the Board of Education.
Dragoo attended the riot with her husband, Steven, who photographed the couple throughout the day, including entering the Capitol through a broken window, according to court documents. He is one of 10 candidates vying for three open seats on the board, which oversees 10,000 students and 1,500 staff members. The election will be held on April 2.
Michele Morrow, North Carolina;
Michelle Morrow won the Republican primary for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction and will face Democrat Mo Green in November.
Morrow made it clear that he attended the Stop Theft rally on Jan. 6, but did not enter the Capitol. Tomorrow told a local news station Speaking about his experience shortly after Jan. 6, he said he was “out there” and “around the Capitol” trying to discourage others from violence. He said he “told everybody that we can’t expect our legislators to follow the law if we’re going to break the law.” He was not charged on January 6.
Morrow has recently gained national notoriety for past social media posts calling for violence against prominent Democrats, including calls for the execution of President Joe Biden and then-President Barack Obama. CNN reported on this. One Video posted on X, he said his posts were “old comments taken out of context, made in jest, or never made at all.” He accused the media of spreading statements to “hide the radicalism of the democrat platform”.
If elected, Morrow would oversee nearly 3,000 public schools in North Carolina, serving 1.4 million children. Morrow has no election experience, he said he homeschools his children and described as “indoctrination” in public school social media posts.
Jason Riddle, New Hampshire
Jason Riddle pladed guilty He was convicted of breaking into the Capitol and stealing government property and sentenced to 90 days in jail. He is now running for Congress in New Hampshire’s Second District. he admitted pouring a bottle of wine inside the building and provided a photo of himself holding the bottle to media outlets, according to government documents.
This is his second run for Congress. He also ran for office in 2022, but his candidacy was hampered by that he was in prison at that time. He also initially expressed confusion about what position he was running for. one Interview with NBC Boston, Riddle said he plans to challenge Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster, but he “thought Ann was the state representative.” When told he was a member of Congress, he replied, “Well, then I should run for it.”
Kuster recently announced his retirementVacant in the swing district located in Concord.
One a survey of his political positions For the website Ballotpedia, Riddle describes himself as a “recently released Jan. 6 political prisoner” and lists Jesus as his only supporter. The filing deadline for New Hampshire is in June, and he is one of several Republicans seeking to run in the Sept. 10 GOP primary.
Anthony Kern, Arizona
Anthony Kern is a current member of the Arizona Senate signed the document It ‘endorses’ the Arizona election as fraudulent for Trump fake voter. Kern attended the “Stop Stealing” rally and was outside the Capitol when the rioters entered; many news outlets recognized him Today’s video is posted online. Kern He tweeted on January 6 he announced that he was in Washington for D-Day using the hashtag #StopTheSteal. He then condemned violence. He has not been charged in connection with the attack, and there is no evidence that he entered the Capitol.
Kern ethically complained about The Arizona Secretary of State’s office said he was charged with using campaign funds to pay for travel expenses to attend the Jan. 6 rally, but he did not respond to requests for comment. He is Currently, an investigation is being conducted on a state criminal case for his role as a mock voter. He denied all wrongdoing.
Kern is running for Congress in Arizona’s 8th District, where she faces several challengers in the race to replace retiring Republican Debbie Lesko. Her challengers include 2022 Republican Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters and 2022 Arizona Attorney General Abe Hamadeh. (Hamadeh submitted three applications. legal challenges to his election loss(all of which are still pending.)
The district, which covers the northwest Phoenix suburbs, is considered solidly Republican with Trump. In 2020, he won it by 13 points.
Jacob Chansley, Arizona
Jacob Chansley, better known as “The Shaman of QAnon,” has announced that he is running for the same seat as Kern, but as a libertarian.
Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in prison for obstruction of justice. She is famous for her unusual attire, wearing a feathered horn headdress on January 6.
He, a expression of interest to run for Congress in November. Chansley does not have a campaign website, has not filed a nomination with the Federal Election Commission and is not listed as a candidate on the Arizona Libertarian Party website. He, like the other candidates, did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Derrick Evans, West Virginia;
Derrick Evans, former West Virginia Congressman, admitted his guilt and a three-month preventive measure was chosen Jan. 6 on felony charges for his role. Now he He is running for Congress in the state’s 1st district. He will face Republican incumbent Carol Miller in the May 14 primary.
Evans, sworn in a few weeks before the January 6 attack, broadcast live On Facebook that day, including “Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”
When pressed this week about how his association with the riots affected his candidacy, Evans said he believed there was an attempt to steal the 2020 election from Trump.
Katrina Pierson, Texas
Pierson is heading into the second round of his candidacy for Texas’ 33rd state representative district. Pierson, a former Trump spokesman, helped organize the rally on the Ellipse and served as a liaison between organizers and the White House, including sharing a plan to call for Trump supporters to march on the Capitol. According to a Jan. 6 House committee report. There is no evidence that Pierson ever went near or to the Capitol, and he has not been charged with any crime.
In the May 28 runoff, Pierson will face incumbent state representative Justin Holland, a Republican. He was supported in the race by Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton. who is targeting state house members Including the Netherlands, which voted for his impeachment.
Losing candidates
Several candidates who participated on January 6 have already lost their candidacy in this cycle.
Ryan Zink, convicted of a felony and two misdemeanors lost his primary challenge to Rep. Codey Arrington in Texas’ 19th Congressional District for his role in the riot. He breaking and recorded himself In the footage cited by prosecutors, the Capitol, “We are attacking the Capitol! You can’t stop us!” He got about 3 percent of the vote.
Phillip Sean Grillo, was convicted of five charges, including one felony because of his actions that day, he lost his race to become the Republican nominee in the special election to replace George Santos in New York’s 3rd District. He testified in court “I have no idea” that Congress should meet in the Capitol.
Bianca Gracia lost her bid to represent Texas’ 128th state house district. According to the committee’s report dated January 6, Gracia helped organize a pro-Trump rally in Washington on Jan. 5 and has close ties to the extremist group Proud Boys, even meeting with the group’s leaders and the Andean Pacifists the day before the riot. Gracia testified to the committee on January 6, but mostly called his Fifth Amendment rights to refuse to answer questions. He has not been charged with any crime and does not appear to have been in or near the Capitol on January 6.
Gracia was endorsed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, but that wasn’t enough to help him defeat ultra-conservative Texas House member Briscoe Cain. who helps the Trump legal team In calls for election results in 2020.