US conspiracists seeking key state election posts falling short
Republican Kim Crockett, who echoed some of Trump’s lies about voting, lost her bid for secretary of state, in Minnesota
Republicans who backed Donald Trump’s failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election lost key races to oversee elections in some competitive states, even as others remained positioned to take those offices in more conservative parts of the country.
Doug Mastriano, the GOP nominee for governor in Pennsylvania who was seen outside the U.S. Capitol on the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and regularly communicated with Trump as the then-president tried to reverse his loss to Joe Biden, lost to Democrat Josh Shapiro on election night. The state’s governor appoints the secretary of state, who is the top voting official.
In Minnesota, Republican Kim Crockett, who echoed some of Trump’s lies about voting, lost her bid for secretary of state, which in most states is the position that oversees state elections. In Michigan, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson declared victory over Kristina Karamo, a community college instructor who became one of the most prominent election conspiracists in the country. The Associated Press has not yet called the race.
And in New Mexico, Republican Audrey Trujillo, who cheered on Trump’s effort to reverse the voters’ will in 2020, lost to Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver.
Races in Arizona and Nevada, major swing states where election conspiracists were competing for secretary of state positions, remained too early to call. But many democracy advocates and Democrats were cheered by the initial tallies in political battlegrounds.
“Ultimately, some voters likely chose candidates in part because they were committed to telling the truth and protecting election integrity,” said Ben LaBolt, a Democratic strategist.
Still, in Republican-leaning states, some election conspiracists did win secretary of state offices.
Alabama voters gave the position to state Rep. Wes Allen, who backed a groundless lawsuit to overturn Biden’s victory that was dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Indiana, Diego Morales, who ousted the Republican incumbent in the party primary by repeating Trump’s election lies, won the race for secretary of state by defeating Democrat Destiny Scott Wells.
Wyoming Republican Chuck Gray, a state lawmaker who also endorsed efforts to overturn the 2020 election, was running unopposed for secretary of state.
All told, half of the 22 Republicans vying to be secretaries of states — and overseeing elections in most states — have repeated Trump’s election lies. Seven endorsed his attempts to overturn the will of the people and remain in power.
“If they win, we’re going to have someone who’s run on a platform of election denial, saying, ‘Actually, elections are only legitimate when my candidate wins,’” said David Becker, executive director of The Center for Election Innovation & Research and co-author of “The Big Truth,” a book warning of the dangers of Trump’s election lies.
In Arizona, state Rep. Mark Finchem, who attended Trump’s rally on Jan. 6, 2021, right before the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, has made clear he would not have certified Biden’s 2020 win in that state. The GOP nominee in Nevada, Jim Marchant, made the same promise.
Republican Kristina Karamo in Michigan insisted Biden didn’t actually win her state, but he did — and by more than 154,000 votes. Less than two before this year’s midterms, Karamo sued to change Detroit’s election procedures. A judge dismissed the case on Monday, saying there was no evidence to support the allegations. Yesterday [Macau time] she tweeted a post from a conspiracy website spreading more doubt on the voting in the Democratic Party’s bastion in the state. NICHOLAS RICCARDI, MDT/AP
