One of the predictable, yet striking, aspects of the right’s periodic embrace of election denialism is that those who espouse it only see problems when they lose. That dynamic played out again this week.
Election deniers such as former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and former secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem won big in Arizona’s Republican primaries on Tuesday night, and readily accepted the results of that election. Yet if things don’t go their way in November, experts told TPM, expect to see them unleash another torrent of conspiracy theories questioning the legitimacy and security of the state’s election system.
“‘Heads I win, tails you lose’ is a spoiled toddler’s mindset,” said Justin Levitt, an election law scholar and professor at LMU Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. “And anyone who’s not a toddler sees through the flawed logic pretty quickly.”
This week’s sudden embrace of a system that these same candidates had previously declared unsafe and marred by fraud is part of a pattern among election deniers that, experts warn, could continue in November: easily accept their victories if they win or cry fraud if they lose.
“It’s quite possible that Arizona will see further efforts to delegitimize their elections if some of these candidates lose,” David Becker, the executive director and founder of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, told TPM. “We see the former president continuing to spread lies about our elections and election officials all over the country continue to prepare for the possibility that a secure, transparent, independently verified election will be attacked and that supporters of the loser will be incited.”
A number of election deniers won key GOP primary races. Most notably, Lake — who has continually questioned the integrity and legitimacy of the 2020 and 2022 elections and refused to concede her gubernatorial loss — was chosen as the Republican senate nominee.
Finchem, the failed secretary of state candidate and frequent purveyor of election conspiracy theories, defeated incumbent state Senator Ken Bennett for the Republican nomination. After his victory on Tuesday night, which he accepted readily, Finchem thanked his supporters on X, saying that it’s clear that they want “a leader who will fight for secure elections.”
Both Lake and Finchem have challenged Arizona’s use of electronic voting machines, falsely claiming that the machines are “inherently vulnerable to catastrophic cyberattacks.” And even though Tuesday’s primary races both used electronic voting machines to tabulate ballots, Lake and Finchem had no qualms about the results.
“The election denial movement is largely predicated on the false belief that any election not resulting in a certain Republican victory has somehow been stolen,” said David Levine, an election integrity consultant. “Lake continues to be a key cog in the movement.”
“Every time Lake has been presented with evidence to debunk her conspiracy views, she has opted to double down on them instead,” he added.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican who has been a particular target of election denial ire and a fierce defender of the integrity of Maricopa County’s election system, lost his primary to Justin Heap, a member of the far-right Arizona freedom caucus.
“It’s very ironic that all of these people who question the results of the election when they lose don’t question the results of the election when they win,” said Mark Kokanovich, a former federal prosecutor in Arizona and attorney at Ballard Spahr. “The hypocrisy is beyond the pale and glaring.”
Even though election deniers did well in their Republican primary races, these and similar candidates underperformed in the 2022 election. It remains to be seen whether the seeming voter distaste for election denial continues in 2024.
“Past history seems to indicate that in a state as closely divided as Arizona, embracing lies about democracy and elections, attacking public servants throughout the state, has proven not to be a particularly effective general election campaign strategy,” said Becker.
If they lose, we may well see the election denial machine kick into gear again, with dangerous conspiracy theories that only serve to weaken trust in the system.
Frist of all …
… a slight correction.
The good news is that even if they win the general they will not be in charge of the 2024 elections. All votes will be counted in Maricopa County by an honest broker.
Trump is the same way. Does anyone else remember when he won over Hillary that he seemed just as shocked as everyone else?
Then when he lost to Biden, he raised a big fuss.
Authoritarian fascists only recognize elections they win. No result to the contrary is legitimate to them. These scum don’t believe in democracy, freedom, and fair elections. All that matters is power.
For people like this, true believers in their cause based at some level in religion, the only correct answer is that they win. God is on their side, so anything that gets in their way is the work of the Devil. It’s not a surprise that they think every victory is an affirmation of the righteousness of their cause, as they aren’t interested in democracy and fair elections, only in ruling and enforcing their will onto the rest of us.
The damage being done to the system by these people is going to be a big problem, and will continue until they lose enough elections that they are forced to change, or at least go away. People have to vote for freedom, and keep doing it, until they are driven out of power. We can’t survive as a democracy if a large fraction of people don’t believe in it and want to replace it with their own dictatorship.