Vandals broke into Republican congressional candidate Carl DeMaio’s campaign headquarters in San Diego on Wednesday, just six days before voters head to the polls.
Police have not identified a suspect or motive, but the campaign’s communications director Dave McCulloch said he is sure this was “no random act of violence,” he told NBC’s San Diego affiliate.
Computer screens were smashed, cords and cables were cut, and water had been poured on laptops, printers and copiers. Police believe the suspects may have entered though an adjacent office, the station said.
“Almost every cord inside the entire office — phone cords, communications, network cords, power cords — appears to have been cut,” Mr. McCulloch told NBC. “We are extremely disappointed someone would do this just six days before an election, specifically targeting our communications and electronic equipment.”
Mr. DeMaio told Politico that nothing like this had ever happened to him before in politics.
“We hope to have our communication center back up and operational within 24 hours,” he said. “What happened last night frankly was appalling, but we’re committed … we’re going to get our message out.”
The openly gay Republican is challenging Democratic Rep. Scott Peters in the state’s 52nd District in a race considered one of the country’s closest. His challengers in the June 3 Republican primary are Kirk Jorgensen and Fred Simon.
Mr. McCulloch said the office has not received any threats, and he didn’t say who the campaign thinks is responsible. So far, there is no dollar estimate for the damage, NBC reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.