Local party leaders talk unity after shooting at GOP baseball practice
Local Republican and Democratic Party leaders spoke at events at both offices in the desert on Wednesday, and they’re expressing the importance of unity in the aftermath of the shooting at a GOP baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia Wednesday morning.
Read: How an early morning baseball practice turned into terror for GOP lawmakers
KESQ News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2’s Zak Dahlheimer went to a Republican event in La Quinta where security is being stepped up Wednesday night.
The Democratic headquarters is celebrating its tenth anniversary in the Coachella Valley, while the East Valley Republican headquarters is hosting its grand opening. But local GOP party leaders said they have Riverside County sheriff’s deputies on patrol.
The extra security is nothing out of the ordinary, officials said, but important for Wednesday night after what took place in Virginia Wednesday morning.
“We’re going to be having city council representatives, city mayors, we’re going to be having a representative from the county party,” said Johnny Hildreth of Chairman ROC of the Desert. “That’s a lot of people in one area, so it’d be nice to have the presence, a little bit of security.”
Both sides say the focus moving forward should be to come together.
“There’s no Democrat or Republican in this issue. it was Congress,” Hildreth said.
“Whether you’re a Bernie Sanders supporter, or a Rush Limbaugh supporter, or whoever you’re supporting, violence has no place in the process,” said Bob Mueller of the Progressive Democrats.
Both local party leaders say the event could’ve been fueled by divisive cultures this political cycle.
“He was seeking out Republicans, we know that, but here in the valley, we are in pretty calm territory. We have wonderful people on both sides, Republicans, and Democrats and we respect each other,” Hildreth said.
