'The Republican Party of New Mexico blamed GOP congressional candidate Mark Moores’ loss in a Tuesday special election on “low voter turnout” sparked by “angry” Republican voters who “questioned election integrity,” in an email sent on Thursday.

If that were true, the party would only have themselves to blame.

The party remains under the control of proponents of the stolen election myth that propelled the riot and continues to justify the GOP’s swing against democracy.

“Our democracy has been tarnished,” New Mexico GOP chair Steve Pearce, a former congressman, said after the Jan. 6 attack, by “anomalies and issues that were never addressed.”

Moores lost the special election to fill the seat vacated by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to Democrat Melanie Stansbury by a nearly 25-point margin. The voter turnout was less than half of the 2020 general election. But significantly lower turnout is normal for a special election.

There is, however, no direct evidence that Republicans stayed home because they believed that the election would be stolen and their votes wouldn’t count.

Perhaps the best explanation for the Republicans’ loss is that their candidates lost this seat by double-digits in five straight elections as the district swung further toward Democrats. Also, the national Democratic Party sent resources and high profile surrogates to help Stansbury win while the national Republican Party stayed out of the race entirely.

But the stolen election myth offers a better salve. Those who “stole the election” also stole the will of Republican voters. The blame for losing this election then lies at the feet of the mythical election thieves and not the underfunded candidate running in a district tilting heavily against their party. The party is absolved of all responsibility.'

Personally, I see this as a win-win. Republicans get to lose elections and don't have to feel it's their fault? They can stay home on election day because they don't think their votes count anyway? I have no problem with this.