Hice has been leading all candidates in fundraising and is part of a new group called the “America First Secretary of State Coalition,” organized by Jim Marchant, a former state lawmaker who is running for the open secretary of state seat in Nevada. Georgia’s 5 million votes cast for president were counted three times, including once by hand. Hice objected to Georgia’s electoral votes being counted for Biden, despite a lack of any evidence of widespread fraud or tampering. Trump has endorsed one of Raffensperger’s opponents, U.S. “I stand on the truth, and no one has been stronger on election integrity than me.” “We checked every allegation I made sure we did,” Raffensperger said. He also has pointed to his efforts to include a photo ID requirement for mail ballots as part of a sweeping election bill passed by lawmakers last year.Īt a recent rally in Georgia, Trump blasted Raffensperger as a “lousy secretary of state.” In an interview, Raffensperger said he has been working to counter the continuing misinformation and disinformation campaigns. He has sought to counter them by touting his conservative credentials, downplaying differences with Trump and wooing primary voters with a call to ban non-citizen voting. Raffensperger didn’t cede to Trump’s demands and has defended Georgia’s election in a re-election bid this year where he faces three primary challengers. In one instance, Trump made a phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which he asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s win. That changed after Trump disputed his loss and decided to target election officials in political battleground states, sometimes pressuring them to reverse his loss. The races are typically low-key contests overshadowed by campaigns for governor and state attorney general. The job of secretary of state has tended to attract candidates focused more on process than politics. So far, only one has drawn a Democratic challenger.
Wyoming Secretary of State Edward Buchanan has yet to announce his plans.ĭemocratic secretaries are running to keep their seats in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington. In Alabama, Idaho, Nevada and North Dakota, the GOP incumbents have opted against seeking reelection or are term-limited, leaving open contests. Only Iowa’s Paul Pate is running unopposed. In addition to Ohio, Republican secretaries of state in Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota are seeking to remain in office. Trump’s false claims have led to restrictive voting laws in Republican-controlled states, partisan election reviews, voting system security breaches and now a wave of candidates seeking to take over election administration at the state and local levels. In some cases, they are just making stuff up.” They are willing to ignore counts, willing to ignore safeguards we have in the system. “Their opponents are people who don’t show respect for the law or evidence or the vote-counting process. “These are guardians of democracy,” he said. That tweet came a day after LaRose learned he had drawn not one but two primary challengers, both of whom have said they believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. LaRose has shifted his tone on Twitter, recently saying the “mainstream media is trying to minimize voter fraud to suit their narrative” and “President Donald Trump is right to say that voter fraud is a serious problem.” Months later, he said in an interview what has proved true in state after state - that voter fraud is rare.įast forward to 2022, when Republican secretaries of state face a delicate test with voters: Touting their work running clean elections while somehow not alienating GOP voters who believe the false claims of fraud fueled by former President Donald Trump and his allies. “Elections are run better and more honestly than really I think they ever have been,” he said in response to conspiracy theories being floated about the election. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose was clear in the months after the 2020 presidential election.