This midterm, there are 291 Republican election deniers on your state’s ballots running for Congress, governor and secretary of state positions and many of them are slated to win.
In addition, an unknown number of election conspiracy theorists are also “running for one of the 10,000 positions nationwide that administer local elections and oversee the people who actually hand out ballots, tally votes and report results.”
What does this mean for you?
“If I win, Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin again.”
It’s not just Wisconsin, Republicans all over the country are promising to be sore losers and use the Trump playbook of denying election results if they lose.
“we’ll have people in charge of our democracy (elections) who do not believe in democracy”
“If elected, GOP election deniers will implement policies to make voting more challenging, constantly sow doubt in election results if their chosen candidate doesn’t win (naturally the election will be “perfect” if a “Trumpist acolyte” gets the nod) and potentially block the certification of the upcoming 2024 presidential results.”
Background
- tax cuts for the wealthy / corporations
- normalizing anti-semitism, conspiracy theories, racism.
- gutting environmental, labor & voter protections.
Oh and let’s not forget denying a woman’s right to reproductive control and advancing gun ownership in a country that’s already awash in guns.
History shows that GOPers can’t win on their ideas alone – G.W. Bush and Trump both lost the popular vote, but won the presidency thanks to the outdated electoral college process. Consequently, the GOP has resorted to cheating (voter suppression) + racism to “win elections”.
“Like the January 6, 2021 pro-Trump siege on the US Capitol, the Brooks Brothers rioters were organized by the top levels of the GOP and sought to replace the rule of law with mob rule… The Brooks Brothers rioters were largely made up of GOP operatives, including some who went on to work in the Bush administration.”
In their own words, Republicans constantly want to “stop votes from being counted” which is why they put up barriers to make it more difficult for the public to vote. Now the GOP has decided to subvert the entire election process by electing officials who believe an election is only ‘fair’ if their preferred candidates win; otherwise the election was “rigged”.
The 2022 midterm election isn’t about inflation or abortion. It’s about whether US democracy can survive…
From the two video clips below, you can clearly see the danger of electing election conspiracy theorists to oversee our elections. Why bother stealing elections, if the GOP can ensure that the people counting the votes will be on their side?
“Maga Republicans do not respect the Constitution…They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they’re working right now — as I speak, in state after state — to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.”
With Trump & the rising fascist movement in America, I’ve started donating to candidates around the country, esp. the often overlooked races e.g. secretary of state races / attorneys general. It’s frightening to know thousands of Trump Loyalists are recruited to monitor the polls on election day and armed vigilantes are ‘monitoring’ ballot drop boxes in Arizona.
So, what can you do to fight back?
Vote and try to get everyone you know to vote – offer to drive them to the polls, text and call potential voters, early vote if possible.
If you can donate to organizations such as:
Personally, I like donating through Give Green, because they make it easy to find and support candidates who care about climate change and other environmental issues.
Let me close with an inspirational video and remind you once again to:
“Vote as though your democracy is on the line, because it is.”
Update: How many election deniers won the 2022 midterm elections?
While the “red wave” wasn’t as bad as most people expected, it’s still alarming to read in a Nov 15, 2022 CBS article:
In the next Congress, there are projected to be 156 GOP House members who have raised doubts about the validity of the 2020 election, an increase from the 147 GOP House members who, in January 2021, voted to object to the certification of the Electoral College. In the new Senate, five new senators who fall into the category of “election deniers” will take office, with four incumbents joining them.
The good news is that voters managed to elect Secretaries of State who actually believed in democracy and election integrity.
Voters managed to hold the line and beat back insane conspiracy spouting Republican candidates who wanted to oversee the Presidential elections in 2024 & “fix” the election for Trump or whoever the 2024 GOP nominee will be. Adrian Fontes, the Democratic secretary of state-elect in Arizona, describes them as follows:
“We need to stop calling them election deniers, and start calling them authoritarians. There’s a word in Spanish called negacionistas, which describes them very, very well. These are people who negate the reality that exists out there. These are folks who do not believe in democracy, they do not believe in the American voter, and the power of the consent of the governed.”
Personally, I call all MAGA Republicans = negacionistas