Republicans Who Tried To Overturn the 2020 Election Are Now Running for Secretary of State, the Position That Oversees Elections

A number of Republicans who supported Donald Trump’s false, baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” are now looking to have more control over future elections.

At least four Trump-supporting, Democracy-overthrowing Republicans, all from key battleground swing states, are launching campaigns for secretary of state.

Politico writes:

The candidates include Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia, a leader of the congressional Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 Electoral College results; Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem, one of the top proponents of the conspiracy-tinged vote audit in Arizona’s largest county; Nevada’s Jim Marchant, who sued to have his 5-point congressional loss last year overturned; and Michigan’s Kristina Karamo, who made dozens of appearances in conservative media to claim fraud in the election.

The secretary of state is a state’s chief election official. And while some states limit the power of the position, relying more on city and county officials to oversee elections, what happened last November made it clear that the secretary of state is still an incredibly influential role. All four of these candidates are running in states where the incumbents–two Democrats and two Republicans—refused to overturn their states’ election counts or perpetuate Trump’s “big lie” about nonexistent election fraud.

If MAGA sycophants had been in office, the whole ordeal would definitely have been even more grueling than it already was—or is, as some states are still insisting on re-auditing the long-settled results.

Even beyond this one monumental mess of an election, voter suppression is rampant in Republican-led states. It’s built into the GOP handbook to such an enormous degree that even the most outspoken deniers of Trump’s election lies still won’t denounce other, much more common and pernicious forms of election fraud, and yes I am talking about Liz Cheney.

Remember, this is the kind of viewpoint Republicans consider too liberal for their party. The very last thing we need is more MAGA extremists getting more power over our elections.

(via Politico, image: JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

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Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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