(crowd cheers)
- We had a big day today
and don't let those cheaters
and crooks think anything different.
(crowd cheers)
- [Narrator] Republican candidates
who have echoed former President Donald Trump's false claims
that the 2020 was fraudulent
lost some crucial races this election.
- That's right.
- [Narrator] While others have not yet been called
by the Associated Press.
Election skeptic candidates were on the ballot
for governor and secretary of state
across the country on Tuesday.
But in a few key swing states,
these offices could have the most impact
on the 2024 General Election and beyond.
That's because governors and secretaries of state
have considerable authority over election administration
and in 2020, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania
were all decided by thin vote margin.
Here's a breakdown of how election skeptic candidates fared
in each of those states.
- This is a movement.
(gentle music)
- [Narrator] In Pennsylvania,
Republican Doug Mastriano was defeated
in his race for governor by Democrat Josh Shapiro,
according to the Associated Press.
As a state senator, Mastriano introduced legislation
to ignore the 2020 election result
and directly appoint electors pledged to Trump,
despite the fact
that there was no evidence of widespread fraud.
- It's something very near and dear to both of our hearts.
We're gonna fight like hell for voting integrity
and we're gonna start with voter ID.
(crowd cheers)
- [Narrator] In Pennsylvania,
the governor directly appoints the secretary of state
and other election officials
and therefore can significantly influence election policy.
(tense music)
- Why do we have a secretary of state
that wants to go around the rules?
- [Narrator] In Michigan, Republican Tudor Dixon
was defeated in her race for governor
by incumbent Gretchen Whitmer, according to the AP.
During her campaign, Dixon repeated false claims
that the 2020 election result in Michigan
was altered by widespread fraud.
If elected, she had pledged to enact strict voter ID laws,
ban ballot drop boxes, and launch retroactive investigations
into the 2020 election.
- We're insurrectionists, we're traitors,
big lie proponents for asking questions.
- [Narrator] And Republican Kristina Karamo
lost her race for secretary of state
against the Democrat incumbent Jocelyn Benson,
according to the AP.
Karamo ran on the America First slate of election skeptics
and has repeated false claims of election fraud.
The Michigan secretary of state
does not have the centralized authority
over election certification
that many other secretaries of state have,
but he or she can issue directives to local election offices
and trigger audits,
as allies of President Trump did in 2020.
(bright tonal music)
- Is this the greatest president we're ever known?
(crowd cheers)
- [Narrator] In Arizona,
the governor's race has still not been called
between former TV anchor Kari Lake
and Democrat Katie Hobbs.
Lake was among the most visible
and vocal skeptics of the 2020 election.
She had aligned herself with Trump,
who made Arizona a focal point of his false election claims.
- I'd actually like to ask everybody on this stage
if they would agree we had a corrupt, stolen election.
Raise your hand.
- [Narrator] Official investigations, court cases,
and election audits have not substantiated allegations
of widespread fraud.
In Arizona, the governor and secretary of state
can enact sweeping changes to elections,
especially if their party controls
the state legislature too.
In her campaign,
Lake didn't specify all of the changes she would make,
but she signaled opposition to early voting
and mail-in ballots.
- Our Constitution says Election Day,
it doesn't say election season, election month.
- [Narrator] The race for Arizona secretary of state
has also not been called between Republican Mark Finchem
and Democrat Adrian Fontes.
In Arizona, the secretary of state
is in charge of certifying elections.
As a state representative,
Finchem introduced legislation
to decertify the 2020 election,
and during his campaign for secretary of state,
he often repeated unfounded claims of widespread fraud.
- There are certain counties that should've been set aside
as irredeemably compromised.
Maricopa County was one of them.
- [Narrator] In Arizona, the secretary of state
has broad powers over election administration.
Previously, Finchem had expressed a desire
to decertify many of Arizona's election machines.
(serious tonal music)
- Your name, sir?
- Jim Marchant from Las Vegas, Nevada.
We are here to recommend that you vote today
to dispose of your electronic voting and tabulation machines
and do not use them in any elections going forward.
- [Narrator] The race for Nevada secretary of state
has still not been called between Republican Jim Marchant
and his Democratic opponent, Cisco Aguilar.
Marchant has made false claims about the 2020 election.
- We have something in common.
President Trump and I lost an election in 2020
because of a rigged election.
- [Crowd] Yeah!
- [Narrator] Ahead of the midterms,
Marchant led an organized campaign
to support election skeptic candidates
for secretary of state nationwide.
- Last year, I established a MAGA America First coalition
of secretary of state candidates around the country.
- [Narrator] Marchant's group, the America First slate,
included a dozen candidates for secretary of state
and supported the gubernatorial campaigns
of Kari Lake in Arizona and Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania.
(crowd cheers) (crowd applauds)
- Oh yeah.
- [Narrator] Election skeptic candidates
lost some important bids to take the reins
of election administration in swing states,
while others remain uncalled.
Changes to election processes in any one of these states
could be the factor that tips a close election in 2024.
(tense tonal music)