Election denialists are one step closer to taking control of the ballot in 4 key states

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The latest incidents occurred on Tuesday in Arizona and Michigan. Mark Finchem, who attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally before the attack on the US Capitol but denied participating in the riot, won the GOP nomination for Arizona secretary of state, the state’s top election official. Abraham Hamadeh, who has committed “getting serious about fraud in the 2020 election,” declared the Republican nominee for Arizona attorney general.

In Michigan, Tudor Dixon prevailed as the GOP candidate for governor. Dixon said in a debate in May that he believes Trump won the state in 2020, though during an interview with Fox News last weekend he did not directly address whether he believed the election was stolen.

Two other election naysayers are likely to join her on the ballot. The state party endorsed Kristina Karamo, who claimed to have seen irregularities during the last election, the secretary of state and Matthew DePerno, who was embroiled in a legal case challenging the 2020 results, for attorney general at a congress in April and will make formal options for those positions later this month.

Tuesday’s results come after Jim Marchand, who has said his first priority will be “overhauling the rigged election system,” won the Republican nomination for secretary of state in Nevada in June. And in May, Pennsylvania Republicans nominated Doug Mastriano, a leader in the effort to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, for governor. If he wins the general election, Mastriano will be able to appoint the foreign minister.

All four states helped seal Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 and will likely be critical again in determining the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. Each of these candidates has been endorsed by Trump, who has put pressure on those very state officials to overturn the results of the last election and has given every indication that he wants to run for the White House again.

Despite warnings from voting rights advocates and even some members of their own party — as well as a complete lack of evidence of widespread fraud — Republicans who embrace lies about the last election have repeatedly experienced success in the 2022 primary season. .

Among key states in the 2020 race, Georgia stands out as the notable exception: Gov. Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr defeated Trump-backed challengers who echoed the former President’s baseless campaign claims.

But the reality is that nationally, a majority of Republicans agree with these claims. A recent CNN poll found that two-thirds of Republicans said Biden’s victory was not legitimate, and 72% said the party should “very much” or “somewhat” accept candidates who believe the 2020 election was stolen.

The point: As long as Trump’s false claims of fraud remain a dominant view within the Republican Party, election naysayers will continue to rise through the ranks. This could have unprecedented implications for the way elections are conducted across the country.

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