Democrats blasted a Republican state representative from Windham on Friday while circulating photos that they say show her attending the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that eventually led to a riot at the U.S. Capitol building.

The Maine Democratic Party issued a statement with photos that it said were taken from social media accounts and showed Rep. Barbara Bagshaw smiling and posing in front of the Capitol during the so-called “Stop the Steal” rally. Supporters of then-President Donald Trump marched to the Capitol to pressure Congress to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

Rep. Barbara Bagshaw, R-Windham

Bagshaw has not been charged with any crimes and the photos show her outside the Capitol with other attendees, not participating in the storming of the building.

Though a party leader confirmed her presence at the rally, Bagshaw did not respond to interview requests Friday to ask whether she supports Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election. She did not make that claim publicly when she ran for and won her seat in the Maine Legislature in 2022.

The disclosure of the photos more than three years after the rally comes just ahead of Labor Day weekend, the traditional start of a campaign season that will decide control of the state Legislature.

Bagshaw is locked in a tough reelection battle after narrowly winning her first term two years ago. She won the District 106 seat by 23 votes after a recount. She is seeking reelection against Doris Poland, a former bus driver and library technician.

Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Tim Grose said in a written statement that Bagshaw “was present at the attempted insurrection and attack on our nation’s Capitol; where rioters assaulted law enforcement officers, vandalized and desecrated public property, disrupted the peaceful transition of power, and subverted the will of Mainers by delaying the certification of votes in a free & fair election.”

“The level of extremism and arrogance on display for Rep. Bagshaw to travel from Maine to Washington, D.C., to support Donald Trump’s efforts to throw away the votes of her constituents, and instead impose her will on all Mainers and Americans, is astounding – but unsurprising given her radical MAGA views and the fact she is the second Maine GOP candidate or elected official known to have been at the Capitol that day,” Grose said.

House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, called the Democratic attack pathetic and defended Bagshaw, saying she did nothing wrong when she joined tens of thousands of other people who attended Trump’s rally on Jan. 6.

“I don’t see that as newsworthy,” Faulkingham said in a phone interview. “I think it’s pathetic that Democrats can’t run on policy, so they have to run on stuff like this.

“Anybody that knows Barbara knows she’s a good representative that serves her community well,” Faulkingham said. “I think it’s pathetic they would try to make her into an extremist, because anyone who has been around her for five minutes knows that that’s not true.”

The photo shared by Democrats Friday appears to show Bagshaw standing in front of the Capitol on Jan. 6 with Justin Whynot, a Windham resident who acknowledged his attendance at the Jan. 6 rally last fall while he was running for a school board seat. He also did not enter the Capitol or face any charges.

One Maine politician has faced legal trouble for his participation in the post-rally riot.

Former Republican state Senate candidate Matthew Brackley pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, impeding or resisting police during the 2021 storming of the Capitol. He was sentenced to a little more than a year in federal prison, as well as two years of probation and $3,000 in fines and restitution for damages at the Capitol.