In a number of key races, Trump-backed candidates appeared poised to lose, overwhelmingly dismissing questions raised about the integrity of the election process. Ms. Lake, a rising Republican star, boosted her profile by publicizing Trump’s disputed claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. He called for the jailing of officials responsible for the 2020 election and said that if he had been governor, he would not have certified Joe Biden’s victory in Arizona. She has also previously refused to say she would accept the results in her own fight should she lose. He further fueled allegations of corruption as he took the stage in Phoenix, as early reports indicated that Democrat Katie Hobbs is in the thick of things.
‘Corruption’
With half the votes counted, she has 578,647 votes to Katie Hobbs’ 756,728. Addressing the crowd, Ms Lake said: “God didn’t put us in this fight because it would be easy.” “When corruption has risen to the level it is now, tough, strong people are needed.” It came as an exit poll in Arizona found voters expressed high confidence in the state’s election numbers and the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. Ms. Lake is one of several Trump-backed election naysayers who appeared to fare poorly during Tuesday night’s midterm elections. In Colorado, Rep. Lauren Bobert, a Trump member, looked poised to lose her seat. Meanwhile, Doug Mastriano, who made election denial a centerpiece of his Pennsylvania gubernatorial campaign as a Republican, was defeated by Democrat Josh Shapiro by a wide margin, in a major defeat for the former president.
“Election naysayers are losers tonight”
Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman and Trump critic, said: “The election naysayers are defeated tonight.” However, dozens of Trump-backed candidates who have denied the results of the 2020 election could soon find themselves in positions of power. Of the nearly 300 on the ballot, 171 are candidates where the GOP is favored to win. Another 46 will appear on the ballot in closely contested races. So far, 50 have already claimed victory, including Missouri Attorney General’s Senate candidate Eric Schmidt, who signed the red-state Texas lawsuit that sought to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2020 election. One of the biggest wins of the night so far was for Trump-endorsed author and entrepreneur JD Vance, who won the Ohio Senate race with 54 percent of the vote.
Candidates could refuse to certify the result
Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who was involved in an attempt to deliver fake voting materials to then-Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021, is currently leading his race. Many staunch election naysayers are vying for the role in key states: Mark Finchem in Arizona, Jim Marchant in Nevada and Kim Crockett in Minnesota. All three have suggested they would refuse to certify future elections if they disagreed with the outcome. If they prevail, “they could attempt to use the levers of government to put their thumb on the scales to favor their preferred candidates,” a former election official warned. Mr. Finchem, the GOP candidate for Arizona Secretary of State and a self-identified member of the Oath Keepers militia group, currently trails challenger Adrian Fontes 41 percent to 59 percent. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer survived a challenge from Trump-backed gerrymander Tudor Dixon. The others were too early to call. The races for foreign ministers, in particular, are more high-profile than ever. Secretaries are, in many cases, a state’s top election officials, while governors play a role in the constitutionally mandated process for certifying presidential elections. The nay-sayers for secretary of state could help tip off future presidential elections. Many Republican secretaries of state rejected Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and won primaries against challengers who contested that outcome. The most notable example was in Georgia, where Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger rejected Mr. Trump’s private pleas to “find” enough votes to declare him the winner of the state, which was won by ally Biden. Mr. Raffensperger’s refusal angered Mr. Trump, who recruited a front-runner who lost badly in the May primary. Mr. Raffensperger faced Democratic state senator Bee Nguyen on Tuesday.
