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Hundreds of Republican midterm candidates have questioned or spread misinformation about the 2020 election.

Hundreds of Republican midterm candidates have questioned or spread misinformation about the 2020 election.

Together they represent a growing consensus in the Republican Party, and a potential threat to American democracy.

Together they represent a growing consensus in the Republican Party, and a potential threat to American democracy.

They include candidates for the U.S. House and Senate, and the state offices of governor, secretary of state and attorney general many with clear shots to victory, and some without a chance. They are united by at least one issue: They have all expressed doubt about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. And they are the new normal of the Republican Party.

About the data Karen Yourish and Danielle Ivory collected and analyzed statements of more than 550 Republican midterm candidates. Read more about their reporting.

More than 370 people a vast majority of Republicans running for these offices in November have questioned and, at times, outright denied the results of the 2020 election despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, according to a monthslong New York Times investigation. These candidates represent a sentiment that is spreading in the Republican Party, rupturing a bedrock principle of democracy: that voters decide elections and candidates accept results.

This skepticism has stretched into political races in every state and is still frequently being raised as a campaign issue, The Times has found, nearly two years after Donald J. Trump was defeated. Hundreds of these candidates are favored to win their races.

Far from fading over time, as many Americans had hoped, election lies and misinformation have proved strikingly resilient, even amid a political campaign season in which far more is being said by candidates and their party officials about issues like inflation and abortion. The Times has for the first time identified more than 240 candidates who are still casting doubt on the presidential election this year many of them within the last couple of months.

The Times analysis is a detailed accounting of the spread of election denial in the Republican Party. The analysis incorporates not only what candidates have said, but also when. Many candidates views have changed over time as new conspiracies were born, as Mr. Trump demanded fealty, and as primary voters weighed in, The Times found. Some candidates became less vocal after the Capitol riot, and some have consistently pushed falsehoods about the election.

The timeline below tracks the candidates expressions of doubt over three distinct periods: on the day of or before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, after the riot, and this year as the midterm elections have approached.

74 candidates questioned the 2020 election through the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

On or beforeJan. 6, 2021

Rest of 2021

2022

Michael Cloud, 27th District, TexasThe allegations of irregularities in the vote-counting process should be concerning to everyone. Nov. 6, 2020

Michael Cloud, 27th District, TexasThe allegations of irregularities in the vote-counting process should be concerning to everyone. Nov. 6, 2020

136 candidates questioned the 2020 election on and off in the last two years.

On or beforeJan. 6, 2021

Rest of 2021

2022

Diana Harshbarger, First District, Tenn.There's ample evidence that unchecked ballot harvesting has led to mischief and voting irregularities. June 24, 2022

Diana Harshbarger, First District, Tenn.There's ample evidence that unchecked ballot harvesting has led to mischief and voting irregularities. June 24, 2022

64 candidates questioned the 2020 election in 2022.

On or beforeJan. 6, 2021

Rest of 2021

2022

Scotty Moore, Ninth District, Fla.The movie 2000 Mules proves election fraud happened and President Trump won in a landslide. May 9, 2022

Scotty Moore, Ninth District, Fla.The movie 2000 Mules proves election fraud happened and President Trump won in a landslide. May 9, 2022

103 candidates have persistently questioned the 2020 election.

On or beforeJan. 6, 2021

Rest of 2021

2022

Mary Miller, 15th District, Ill.They know even a glancing review would uncover the greatest heist of the 21st century. Dec. 29, 2020

Mary Miller, 15th District, Ill.They know even a glancing review would uncover the greatest heist of the 21st century. Dec. 29, 2020

Note: Some candidates were not public figures until recently. Their records of casting doubt on the 2020 election may not be publicly available.

No evidence of widespread irregularities was found by top Trump administration officials in the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, which investigated the election, or by judges throughout the country and even auditors commissioned by political operatives intent on proving fraud.

The Times scoured the public records of more than 550 Republican candidates in all 50 states, examining their social media accounts, political emails, newsletters, speeches, interviews and campaign materials. The analysis distinguished between the many dozens of candidates who said unequivocally (and inaccurately) that the 2020 election was stolen, and those who stopped short of that falsehood but criticized the election, often persistently, in ways that were seemingly more reasonable but perhaps more influential.

The Times did not automatically categorize candidates who objected to the 2020 Electoral College results or who supported lawsuits challenging the results as denying the election outright. As a recent Times investigation reported, those candidates often cited more nuanced arguments for their votes or said they did not want to overturn the outcome.

The Times investigation found that about 70 percent of Republicans running for Congress had questioned the election of President Biden, who won seven million more votes and 74 more electors than Mr. Trump. Of those, nearly two-thirds are favored to win their races, according to the Cook Political Report, which provides race ratings for Congress and governor.

Among Republican candidates running for state offices that can play a significant role in elections and recounts governors, attorneys general and secretaries of state more than half expressed misgivings about the 2020 election. The share was higher, about 65 percent, among candidates running for governor. About half of those candidates for governor are favored to win.

For Republican candidates who would rather talk about something other than the last presidential election, some have learned that the partys base, and its unofficial leader, Mr. Trump, wont let them drop the issue. It has become, in many cases, the price of entry to the Republican ticket.

Wisconsin Republicans learned this lesson the hard way.

In early June, Mr. Trump upended the Republican primary for governor in Wisconsin by endorsing Tim Michels, a wealthy construction magnate, over Rebecca Kleefisch, a former lieutenant governor of the state and a favorite of local Republicans.

The endorsement apparently came with strings.

During a July debate, Mr. Michels said he would not prioritize decertifying the 2020 election in Wisconsin, a legally implausible process that nonetheless remained a fixation of Mr. Trump.

I have to focus on beating Tony Evers this fall, he said, referring to Wisconsins incumbent Democratic governor.

A roar came from Mar-a-Lago, communicated through aides to Mr. Michels, demanding that he embrace the decertification movement, according to people familiar with the conversations.

Mr. Michels reversed course, saying that he was very, very fired up about this election integrity issue and pledging to consider signing a decertification bill if legislators passed one.

By the final days of the primary, Mr. Michels was promoting the election conspiracy theory amplified in the film 2000 Mules and was promising to consider signing legislation clawing back Wisconsins 10 electoral votes from the 2020 election.

The former president has backed nearly 70 percent of the candidates that The Times identified as questioning the 2020 election and who are favored to win their races.

Of the more than 370 candidates who expressed skepticism about the 2020 election, about half are incumbents, nearly all of whom are favored to keep their seats.

About a fifth of the candidates are current members of Congress who, on Jan. 6, 2021, objected to the Electoral College results a distinction that, according to a recent Times report, has become politically (and financially) profitable.

In the months following the Capitol riot, nearly 80 percent of the objectors who are running for re-election took some kind of official action that, in effect, continued to promote questions about the 2020 election. These included signing congressional letters alleging widespread fraud or inappropriate interference in the 2020 race; co-sponsoring legislation to fix what they deemed to be problems that emerged during that election; and joining a new Election Integrity Caucus, which has spearheaded a lot of these initiatives.

The candidates identified by The Times include people who have questioned the 2020 election in ways both explicit and subtle.

Fewer than one-third have staked out the most extreme position stating, without any evidence, that the election was stolen or rigged.

An even smaller number of the candidates who explicitly said the election was stolen, about three dozen of them, are favored to win. They include incumbents like Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama, Representative Lance Gooden of Texas and Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida all of whom have tweeted falsely, sometimes repeatedly, that the election was stolen as well as candidates running for the House, like Mike Collins in Georgia, Joe Kent in Washington State and Anna Paulina Luna in Florida.

In a recent video, Mr. Collins walks toward the camera with a gun, saying: You count the legal votes that were cast in the state of Georgia? Donald Trump won this state, period. At the end of the video, he shoots what appears to be a voting machine, and it explodes. Mr. Biden won the election in Georgia by more than 11,000 votes.

The video below shows how some of the most ardent election deniers have made their claims, even though Mr. Biden received more than 51 percent of the popular vote, winning in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Mark Finchem for Ariz. Secretary of State We know it and they know it.

Mark Finchem for Ariz. Secretary of State Donald Trump won.

Brian Flowers for Miss. 2 Trump won, and everyone knows it.

Blake Masters for Ariz. Senator I think Trump won in 2020.

Mike Collins for Ga. 10 You count the legal votes that were

Mike Collins for Ga. 10 cast in the state of Georgia.

Mike Collins for Ga. 10 Donald Trump won this state.

Tudor Dixon for Mich. Governor Do you believe Donald Trump legitimately

Tudor Dixon for Mich. Governor won the 2020 election in Michigan?

Tudor Dixon for Mich. Governor Yes.

Anna Paulina Luna for Fla. 13 Yes, I believe that

Anna Paulina Luna for Fla. 13 President Trump won that election,

Anna Paulina Luna for Fla. 13 and I do believe that voter fraud occurred.

Karoline Leavitt for N.H. 1 I am the only candidate in this race

Karoline Leavitt for N.H. 1 to say that President Trump won in 2020.

Kari Lake for Ariz. Governor We had a fraudulent election, a corrupt election,

Kari Lake for Ariz. Governor and we have an illegitimate president

Kari Lake for Ariz. Governor sitting in the White House.

J.R. Majewski for Ohio 9 Do you believe that Joe Biden is the legitimate president

J.R. Majewski for Ohio 9 of the United States?

J.R. Majewski for Ohio 9 Hell, no.

Lisa McClain for Mich. 9 Tell me Joe Biden won.

Russell Fry for S.C. 7 It is very clear that it was rigged.

Lance Gooden for Texas 5 I will not accept the results of a rigged election.

Morgan Luttrell for Texas 8 It was taken from us.

Morgan Luttrell for Texas 8 Yes, maam.

Jim Bognet for Pa. 8 In 2020, President Trump endorsed me for Congress.

Jim Bognet for Pa. 8 But that election was stolen from us.

Marjorie Taylor Greene for Ga. 14 The dirty, rotten Democrats stole the election.

Rand Paul for Ky. Senator The election in many ways was stolen.

Rayla Campbell for Mass. Secretary of State We watched our elections

Rayla Campbell for Mass. Secretary of State be stolen.

J.D. Vance for Ohio Senator I think the election was stolen from Trump.

Kay Ivey for Ala. Governor The fake news,

Kay Ivey for Ala. Governor Big Tech and blue-state liberals stole the election

Kay Ivey for Ala. Governor from President Trump.

Most election skeptics, however, have not denied the 2020 results entirely. Instead, The Times found, they have sown doubt by suggesting, sometimes repeatedly, that there are unresolved questions or that further investigation is needed.

Some have said they do not know who legitimately won the election, or they have conceded that Mr. Biden is the president, but not necessarily because he was elected fairly. Some have said that there were irregularities or interference in the election but that perhaps those did not change the results.

Others have changed their positions, like Don Bolduc, a Senate candidate in New Hampshire. At an August debate, Mr. Bolduc said, I signed a letter with 120 other generals and admirals saying that Trump won the election, and, damn it, I stand by my letter.

Im not switching horses, baby, he said.

On Sept. 15, he did.

Read more here:
These Republican Candidates Questioned the 2020 Election. Many Will Win - The New York Times