About
David Clements is a professor at New Mexico State University within its business college, as well as a right-wing activist and politician. Clements was a candidate for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate seat from New Mexico in 2014 but lost the primary election to Allen Weh. Following his election defeat, he switched to the Libertarian Party in 2017 and served as the party’s Vice Chair of Legal Affairs. Clements has also been a deputy district attorney in New Mexico’s 12th Judicial District.
In September 2021, Clements faced a disciplinary investigation by New Mexico State University as well as three complaints filed against him with the state Supreme Court’s disciplinary board for violating the university’s Covid-19 policies. In turn, Clements accused New Mexico State University of “brainwashing and creating an environment of fear” by requiring face masks indoors on campus, and either vaccination against the virus or weekly testing. Clements was later suspended from his position at the university and no longer appears on the faculty staff directory.
The Big Lie
- Clements has made numerous debunked claims regarding misconduct by election officials and liberal politicians who he claims conspired to steal the 2020 election from former president Donald Trump. Clements’ claims included an assertion that officials in Pima County, Arizona and Montrose County, Colorado, altered votes and illegally changed procedures to favor Biden. For instance, Clements claimed that Pima County only allowed mail-in ballots, when there is clear evidence that many voters in the county chose to vote in person.
- Following his suspension from New Mexico State University, Clements began to travel around the state promoting baseless election fraud claims. He also criticized New Mexico state lawmakers for not explicitly stating that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. For instance, Clements said of House Republican Ron Montoya that he “won’t say the election was stolen from Donald Trump. Rod Montoya won’t fight for full forensic audits. I think the people of San Juan County deserve a vote that counts.”
- In September 2021, Clements appeared at an “Election Integrity Symposium” in Montana hosted by Ravalli County Republican Women. The event also featured a speech by Dr. Douglas Frank who claimed to have “discovered the algorithms that controlled the 2020 elections in all 50 states.” Also appearing at the symposium was Otero County, New Mexico Commissioner Cuoy Griffin, who was found guilty of trespassing on Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 insurrection by a federal judge in March 2022.
- At one of his speaking events, an NPR reporter in attendance wrote that Clements implored the audience to go to the offices of county commissioners and pressure them to find election fraud because they “respond to fear.”
Election audits
- As part of his activities following the suspension from New Mexico State University, Clements called for an audit of the 2020 election results. His work as an election denier included trips to other states to promote audits, paid for through an online fundraiser which he claimed raised over $280,000.