Capitol Rioter Announces Senate Campaign to Take Over Marco Rubio's Seat: 'Dozens of People Consider Us Heroes'

A young insurrectionist who attended the January 6 Capitol riots and was arrested for the violent crimes he committed on that day is now running for Congress in 2026.

Edward Jacob Lang recently confirmed that he has filed an official statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to run for the Senate seat left unoccupied by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview with the Miami New Times.

"They love the Jan. Sixers," Lang says. "As I've been going around these last 50 days here in Florida, making campaign videos and seeing business owners and friends of mine here and talking to strangers in the public, I've had dozens of people cry on my shoulder, come out and congratulate and hug and consider us to be patriot heroes and founding father-style leaders."

Lang was only 25 years old when he stormed the Capitol in 2021. Armed with an aluminum baseball bat, prosecutors allege that Lang used his weapon to beat officers tasked with securing the entrance of the Capitol.

He was subsequently arrested and faced charges of assaulting law enforcement officers, as well as felony charges of civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding within the same month. Lang had taken to social media a day after the riots to declare himself "the leader of Liberty," promoting his role within the riots whilst mistakenly tagging his location as the White House.

"Arrest me. You are on the wrong side of history," he stated.

After remaining in prison for four years awaiting trial, Lang was pardoned by President Donald Trump alongside all of his fellow rioters who had stormed the Capitol on that day.

Lang will run for the U.S. Senate seat in Florida leading up to the 2026 elections, when the seat will be available. Currently, it has been temporarily filled by Florida's attorney general, Ashley Moody, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis following Rubio's ascension to the Trump administration cabinet.

Though Lang is originally from New York, he revealed that he has moved to West Palm Beach.

"The people here in Florida are ready for a firebrand conservative to represent them in Senate instead of Ashley Moody, who's as establishment, kind of political insider as it gets," Lang says.