In at least 10 states, the Republican nominee for the job of overseeing future elections is someone who has questioned, rejected or tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Secretaries of state will play a critical role in managing and certifying the presidential election in 2024. The distinct possibility that some of these secretaries will be people with a history of election denial is a major challenge for American democracy – especially because former President Donald Trump, who is widely expected to run again in 2024, continues to pressure state officials to discard the will of voters.
The Republican nominees for secretary of state in the November 2022 midterm elections include three swing-state candidates who have made efforts to overturn 2020 results in their states: Mark Finchem of Arizona, Kristina Karamo of Michigan and Jim Marchant of Nevada.
The Republican nominee in Republican-dominated Alabama, Wes Allen, expressed support for a 2020 lawsuit that sought to get the Supreme Court to toss out Joe Biden’s victory. The Republican nominee in Republican-dominated Indiana, Diego Morales, has called the 2020 election a “scam,” the vote “tainted” and the outcome “questionable.”
The Republican nominee in Democratic-leaning but regularly competitive Minnesota, Kim Crockett, has described the 2020 election in her state as “lawless.” The Republican nominee in the Democratic-dominated Connecticut, Dominic Rapini, is the former chair of a group that has made baseless complaints of 2020 fraud.
The Republican nominee in Democratic-leaning but sometimes competitive New Mexico, Audrey Trujillo, has called the 2020 election stolen. So have the Republican candidates in Massachusetts and Vermont, both obscure figures who face long odds of winning their liberal states in November.
There are some significant differences in the intensity with which these 10 nominees have committed to election rejection. For example, Morales acknowledged in June that Biden “legitimately occupies” the presidency, while Finchem, a serial promoter of wild conspiracy theories about the election, has persisted this year in his impossible quest to reverse Biden’s victory in Arizona.
Read about them here.
Source: www.cnn.com