ATLANTA — In an alarming move, four Republicans who played key roles in fraudulent efforts to overturn 2020 Election results have launched campaigns to become the top election officials in their respective battleground states.
The candidacies of Georgia US Rep. Jody Hice, Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem, former Nevada congressional candidate Jim Marchant, and Michigan poll challenger Kristina Karamo—all of whom peddled unfounded conspiracy theories and dangerous disinformation about the 2020 election—have sounded alarm bells across party lines. Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed concerns that individuals with a demonstrated track record of attempting to undermine democracy have no place serving as Secretary of State.
Read more about the bipartisan opposition to Hice, Finchem, Marchant, and Karamo’s candidacies, and the threats they pose to democracy in the full Politico article here.
Politico: They tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now they want to run the next one.
By Zach Montellaro
- “Republicans who sought to undercut or overturn President Joe Biden’s election win are launching campaigns to become their states’ top election officials next year, alarming local officeholders and opponents who are warning about pro-Trump, ‘ends justify the means’ candidates taking big roles in running the vote.”
- “Their candidacies come with former President Donald Trump still fixated on spreading falsehoods about the 2020 election, insisting he won and lying about widespread and systemic fraud. Each of their states has swung between the two parties over the last decade, though it is too early to tell how competitive their elections will be. The campaigns set up the possibility that politicians who have taken steps to undermine faith in the American democratic system could soon be the ones running it.”
- “‘Someone who is running for an election administration position, whose focus is not the rule of law but instead “the ends justifies the means,” that’s very dangerous in a democracy,’ said Bill Gates, the Republican vice chair of the Board of Supervisors in Maricopa County, Ariz. ‘This is someone who is trying to tear at the foundations of democracy.’”
- “As candidates and officials, the quartet of Republicans have used their megaphones to promote claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.”
- “Finchem, the Arizona state representative, has been a major proponent of the audit of the results in Maricopa County…The audit has been a lightning rod, attracting heavy criticism from GOP officials in Maricopa County who say the auditors are doing shoddy, conspiracy-fueled work — but nevertheless building up hope among Trump supporters who believe that he won the election.”
- “Last week, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors — which includes Gates and is controlled 4-1 by Republicans — lashed out at the Arizona state Senate over the audit, calling it a sham that has ‘rented out the once good name of the Arizona State Senate to grifters and con-artists.’”