ELLICOTT CITY (Maryland): A former US Capitol police officer who defended lawmakers during the Jan 6, 2021, attack and a man who served time in prison for joining the mob, could both be headed to Congress next year if they succeed in primaries later this month.

Their campaigns for respective Democratic and Republican nominations present a split-screen look into a divided nation more than three years after the siege by Donald Trump supporters trying to overturn his election defeat.

The pair — Democrat Harry Dunn in Maryland and Republican Derrick Evans in West Virginia — are seeking their parties’ nominations in strongly partisan districts, meaning both could serve together in the House of Representatives next year if they prevail in their separate May 14 contests.

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Dunn, 40, said he was thrust into politics by what he experienced on Jan 6, which he said stoked his concerns about the stability of US democracy. When he was called to testify to the probe into the attack, Dunn, who is Black, described the way that rioters taunted him with racial slurs as they tried to overturn Democratic President Joe Biden’s election.

“Going forward, it is imperative on us that believe in democracy, that believe in the Constitution, to fight for it,” Dunn said near his campaign headquarters in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Some 300 miles (480 km) to the west in West Virginia, Evans, 36, is trying to unseat third-term Republican US Representative Carol Miller, who was among 139 House Republicans who supported Trump’s bid to overturn the 2020 election result.

Evans, a former teacher who served briefly in the state legislature, was among the throng that illegally entered the Capitol on Jan 6. He served three months in prison after pleading guilty to a felony charge of “impeding, obstructing or interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder.” Dunn and Evans both cite the need to defend the US Constitution at a moment they say presents great peril for the US. That is where their similarities end.

Dividing line

Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia’s Centre for Politics, called Jan 6 “a dividing line that has made our polarisation much worse.” “Its no surprise that candidates who have a direct connection to such a signal event would be able to parlay their involvement into something else on the public stage,” Sabato said.

If elected, Dunn said, he would want to pass legislation to strengthen voter protections, guard election workers from intimidation and reduce the influence of corporate campaign contributions.

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This news agency asked Dunn if he would be willing to work for legislative compromises with Evans if they both were to be elected. “Absolutely,” he responded.

“We’ve got to realise that compromise is what it’s all about. Anytime that one individual gets everything they want, then that’s no longer a democracy. That’s not working for the American people.”

Asked the same question in a phone interview, Evans responded, “I’m not running to make friends. I’m not running to play patty-cake politics. I’m working to kick in the front door and expose the corruption in DC”.

Dunn, with $3.7 million raised as of March 30, leads in campaign contributions in a crowded field of 22 candidates and has secured the endorsement of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2024