kristina karamo

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see state gop wackos

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ding dong finally gone 2 24? pesnion?

rww

[Kyle Mantyla | February 28, 2024

Addie Stan @ The New Republic: CPAC 2024: This Year America, Tomorrow the World.

Sure, Donald Trump was the star. But the real story was the global coalition preparing to cast the world into darkness that is Steve Bannon’s brainchild.

Odette Yousef @ NPR: Alabama justice’s ties with far-right Christian movement raise concern.

In the days since Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should be considered “extrauterine children,” the involvement of that court’s chief justice with a once-fringe Christian Nationalist movement has come under renewed scrutiny.

Joe Jervis: Judge Rules QAnon Michigan GOP Chair Was Unseated.

A Kent County Circuit Court judge ruled Tuesday that Kristina Karamo had been removed as the Michigan Republican Party’s chairwoman on Jan. 6 and barred her from continuing to assert that she holds the position.

Angry White Men: Massachusetts GOP Candidate Is A Neo-Nazi Who Wants To ‘Expel’ Jews And ‘Overthrow The Government.’

On March 5, 2024, voters in Massachusetts’ First Suffolk District will choose two candidates — a man and a woman — for the Republican State Committee. One candidate, Lori Kauffman, is an unabashed Neo-Nazi. A convert from Judaism to Christianity, Kauffman has vowed to “exile” Jews and, on a white supremacist podcast, said “we need to overthrow the government.”

Vesper Henry @ Media Matters: Walters campaigned with influencer rejected by school system for video encouraging anti-trans violence.

Ron “The Real Ron Ron” Causby encouraged his daughters to “kick the shit” out of transgender students in the bathroom.

DUELLING PREZ

https://www.alternet.org/michigan-gop-chair-removes-leader/

Michigan’s MAGA GOP Chair Kristina Karamo Under Fire From Fellow Party Activists | Right Wing Watch

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the Michigan Republican Party has convened a special meeting for this Saturday where the fate of chairwoman Kristina Karamo will be decided.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Republicans in the Mitten State are so determined to remove Karamo that they're also considering a change to their own bylaws that lowers the threshold for removing a chairperson from a 75% vote of the state committee to just a two-thirds vote. Karamo — a former community college professor and 2020 election denier who ran a failed campaign for secretary of state in 2022 — has not yet served even just one year as head of the Michigan GOP.

"You were chosen as chairwoman because the majority of the Republican delegates strongly respected your commitment to a new era of transparency, honesty and meaningful involvement on the part of the State Committee," read letter co-signed by eight of the Michigan GOP's 13 district chairs. "Regrettably, these policies no longer seem to be a priority in your administration and the Party’s financial stability is quickly deteriorating."

The New York Times reported last week that under Karamo's leadership, the party has been driven into more than $620,000 of debt heading into the 2024 general election in a state whose electoral votes has played a deciding role in the last two consecutive presidential elections. Karamo has been criticized for her "autocratic" leadership style and lack of transparency, and in November, a Comerica Bank attorney sent the state party a default notice for not paying interest on a loan in excess of $500,000.

"The Michigan Republican Party is on the verge of imploding. I have more money in my campaign account than the state party has in its,” State Representative Mark Tisdel said. “Sooner or later, the creditors are going to come calling.”

At the party's 2023 Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference — which has in the past attracted major GOP power players like former Vice President Mike Pence — the main speakers were far more lackluster. Keynote speaker Jim Caviezel — a QAnon conspiracy theorist who played Jesus in Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ — was paid a six-figure sum for a short speech. And aside from entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, none of the current Republican candidates for president attended the conference. British rapper and far-right social media personality Zuby was also a headlining speaker.

Karamo has called the attempt to oust her illegal, telling the Free Press in a statement that the organizers of the Saturday meeting "have zero legal authority to conduct business regarding the Michigan Republican Party or its State Committee." there is not yet any consensus on who would replace Karamo if she is removed from her position.

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an 8 23 no lnx

'Bitter disputes' and MAGA extremism are leaving the Michigan GOP 'starving for cash': report

Alex Henderson August 29, 2023

The Michigan GOP has experienced a battle between traditional conservatives and far-right ultra-MAGA Republicans — and the latter have been prevailing. Going MAGA, however, has not served the Michigan GOP well: In 2022, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defeated far-right MAGA Republican challenger Tudor Dixon by 11 percent. And Democrats took over both branches of the Michigan State Legislature.

In an article published on August 29, the New York Times' Nick Corasaniti stresses that the Michigan GOP is "starving for cash." And he cites MAGA extremism as the cause.

Corasaniti explains, "This turmoil is one measure of the way Donald J. Trump's lies about the 2020 election have rippled through his party…. As the party looks toward the presidential election next year, the strains are glaring. Mr. Trump's election lies spread like wildfire in Michigan, breaking the state party into ardent believers and pragmatists wanting to move on. Bitter disputes, power struggles and contentious primaries followed, leaving the Michigan Republican Party a husk of itself."

Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Michigan) is among the Republicans who is sounding the alarm about the Michigan GOP's fundraising crisis.

McClain told the Times, "It's not going real well, and all you have to do is look at the facts. The ability to raise money, we've got a lot of donors sitting on the sideline — that's not an opinion, that's a fact. It's just a plain fact. We have to fix that."

READ MORE: New leak paints 'alarming financial picture' of Michigan GOP: report

The New York Times' full report is available at this link (subscription required).

Dear Republicans: We tried it your way and it doesn't work

Trump’s classified-documents indictment does more than allege crimes − it tells a compelling story

'Priorities out of whack': Louisiana slates $101 million for new sports arena while ignoring education and health care

GOP scheme to overhaul federal government is a 'bullet in the gun' aimed at US democracy: authoritarian expert

Republicans are 'increasingly optimistic' about a lawsuit that could 'blow up campaign finance laws': report

Feds to MTG: Tell us more about that anti-Islam, Nazi-adjacent provocateur who used your credit card

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

'An SNL skit gone bad': Local newspaper roasts Michigan GOP for 'cringe-worthy' Tudor Dixon ad ›

'He kicked me right in my crotch': Bodycam video shows aftermath of brawl at Michigan GOP meeting ›

Far-right extremists keep making the Michigan GOP lose key elections: report ›

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mma 6 23

numerous Republican officials in Michigan are scheduled to attend a Juneteenth celebration featuring a QAnon influencer and a doctor who is best known for spreading bizarre medical claims, including that gynecological problems are caused by demon sperm.

Bernadette Smith, the ethnic vice chair of the Michigan Republican Party, is hosting a “Juneteenth Unite America” event featuring streamer Mel K and quack Dr. Stella Immanuel. A flyer for the event also lists state Reps. Neil Friske, Pat Outman, and Steve Carra; state Sen. Rick Outman; and circuit court Judge Joseph Rossi. Republican Party groups in the state have promoted the event online.

Mel Kis a streaming host who has repeatedly pushed the QAnon conspiracy theory. During one of her programs, she stated that “99%” of QAnon has been “proven to be true”:

MEL K: The actual QMap is the most fascinating thing. I don't know if you've ever seen the actual map that was drawn out. It is the most fascinating strategic document I've ever seen in my life and what it is, and then the drops are just strategically placed.

…

I'd say 99% of what's been on there has been proven to be true. And the problem is, if you remember, the QMap was my favorite. It went away. But the QMap had the people listed. It had questionable deaths and it also had resignations and it also had players. This is what they're scared of. This is what the media is demonizing.

She has also promoted conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems, Smartmatic, and the death of Seth Rich. During one discussion, Mel K accused Dominion and Smartmatic of being part of a global conspiracy that’s “caught up” in “Pizzagate.”

Stella Immanuelis a COVID-19 conspiracy theorist. Will Sommer reported of Immanuel for the Daily Beast in an article headlined “Trump’s New Favorite COVID Doctor Believes in Alien DNA, Demon Sperm, and Hydroxychloroquine”:

Immanuel, a pediatrician and a religious minister, has a history of making bizarre claims about medical topics and other issues. She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex in their dreams with demons and witches.

She alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments, and that scientists are cooking up a vaccine to prevent people from being religious. And, despite appearing in Washington, D.C. to lobby Congress on Monday, she has said that the government is run in part not by humans but by “reptilians” and other aliens.

She has also pushed the QAnon-aligned “adrenochrome” conspiracy theory, including tweeting on June 14 that “the elites” drink the blood of children because “they are not human, and they need human flesh and blood to keep their human container. They are like vampires, they live on human blood.”

The Republican Party in Michigan is led by Kristina Karamo, an anti-LGBTQ commentator who has claimed that Beyoncé, Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, yoga, and a Korean drama are all tools of Satan. She also has QAnon connections and refused to concede her 2022 election loss for secretary of state.

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an 4 23

police late last week were called in after a physical fight broke out among attendees at the Michigan Republican Party's new state central committee meeting.

Bridge MI reports that a fight erupted on Friday night at the Doherty Hotel in Clare, Michigan between allies of current Michigan GOP Chairman Kristina Karamo and ally-turned-rival Matthew DePerno.

"A video recording obtained by Bridge Michigan shows a confrontation between Kalamazoo Republican Party Chair Kelly Sackett and Macomb County GOP Secretary Melissa Pehlis," the publication writes. "After they exchanged words, Sackett appeared to knock a cigarette and phone from the hand of Pehlis, who responded by thrusting an open hand at Sackett's head."

In an interview with Bridge MI, Sackett revealed that she filed a police complaint against Pehlis over the incident, which was apparently a dispute about DePerno's moves to purportedly purge people loyal to Karamo from the Kalamazoo Republican Party.

While Sackett did not elaborate further on the incident, DePerno himself went on the record to condemn Pehlis as a ""Karamo sycophant who was there, it appears, to intentionally harass" Sackett.

DePerno also took a shot at Karamo, who defeated him to become the Michigan Republican Party Chair earlier this year.

"There's big internal disputes within the party right now, and Karamo has done nothing to bring the party together," he said. "And how could she after she ran on a platform for the chair to divide the party? Her platform was to burn it down to eliminate the people who don't agree with her."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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mma 2 23

Kristina Karamo, the Republican Party’s 2022 nominee for Michigan Secretary of State, was trounced in that election by 14 percentage points, but that didn’t stop GOP activists from selecting her as chair of the state party at a Feb. 18 convention.

Although Karamo defeated the Trump-backed candidate Matt DePerno, who lost his election for state attorney general last year and is currently being investigated for his role in accessing voting machines in 2020, Trump congratulated heras “a powerful and fearless Election Denier” and a sign of “the Party’s takeover by Trump loyalists.”

After Karamo’s selection as state party chair, she appeared on Steve Bannon’s War Room show where she called Michigan “ground zero for the globalist takeover of the United States of America” and denounced President Joe Biden as a “traitor” and “illegitimate president” who “needs to be impeached.”

Karamo made a name for herself among MAGA activists by pushing Trump’s false stolen-election claims after the 2020 election. In an August 2022 roundup of far-right candidates in that month’s primaries, Right Wing Watch summarized Karamo this way: “Beyond her stolen-election conspiracy theories, Karamo has also baselessly claimed that anti-fascist activists are to blame for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, said that evolution should not be taught in schools, and said that the LGBTQ movement is part of ‘Satan’s war against humans.’”

Karamo’s secretary of state bid was supported by Transformation Michigan, which is associated with the dominionist Oak Initiative and New Apostolic Reformation. On Sunday, the pro-Trump prayer warriors at Intercessors for America shared a Gateway Pundit column celebrating Karamo’s election as state GOP chair and calling her a “conservative rock star.”

Trump-supporting pastor Shane Vaughn also congratulated Karamo on his livestream Tuesday night, saying that God had raised her up after “they took the election from her.” Vaughn has called for statewide versions of the electoral college to give rural Republican voters the power to block the election of Democratic candidates statewide even if those candidates get the most votes.

Before the 2022 election, Karamo filed a lawsuit unsuccessfully trying to get tens of thousands of mail-in ballots in Detroit disqualified and demanding changes in election administration. Her lawsuit cited Dinesh D’Souza’s propaganda film “2000 Mules,” whose claims about election fraud have been widely debunked. After the 2022 secretary of state election in which she lost by more than 615,000 votes, Karamo refused to concede and made multiple unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Her bid for party chair was endorsed by another defeated Trumpist secretary of state candidate, Arizona’s Mark Finchem.

In a blunt assessment of the impact of Karamo’s election on the future prospects for the Michigan Republican Party, The Bulwark’s senior editor Jim Swift noted Tuesday that Michigan voters have rejected the state GOP’s swing “toward extreme MAGA.” Democrats flipped both chambers of the state legislature last year while decisively reelecting Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, which Swift sees as evidence that the selection of Karamo as party chair is doubling down on a losing strategy.

Tags: Dinesh D'Souza Kristina Karamo Shane Vaughn Steve Bannon conspiracy theories Election 2020 Election 2022 MAGA New Apostolic Reformation Intercessors for America Michigan Republican Party Oak Initiative Republican Party

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In today’s Republican Party it is no longer enough to deny that Donald Trump lost in 2020. The true Republican diehards demand that their leaders deny that Republicans ever lose any election.

That played out at the Michigan GOP convention over the weekend, with Trump’s pick for state party chair being defeated by a candidate who is even more extreme an election denier. It took three rounds of voting—counted by hand because Republicans have also made it an article of faith not to accept voting technology, even at their own convention—but Kristina Karamo prevailed over second-place finisher and Trump endorsee Matt DePerno.

Karamo ran for secretary of state in 2022, losing by 14 points. DePerno ran for attorney general, losing by 8.6 points. But DePerno conceded that he had lost, while Karamo refused to concede. At the state party convention, she made that part of her campaign message, saying, “Conceding to a fraudulent person is agreeing with the fraud, which I will not do.”

When it comes to 2020, DePerno has been an election denier in good standing, having made his name as a Republican and earned Trump’s endorsement on the basis of his quest to prove fraud in that election. He’s even faced a criminal investigation for tampering with voting machines in 2021. That is the kind of stuff that gets you Donald Trump’s endorsement to lead a state Republican Party. But apparently it is not enough for Michigan Republicans. “Matt ran out on us; he didn’t fight for us,” one delegate told The Washington Post.

Election denial isn’t Karamo’s only angle, though. At the convention, she said, “My goal number one as a Christian is to bring people to Christ, and secondarily to save our country.” A few nights earlier, in a speech to a far-right “patriot” group, she went into a little more detail.

“When we start talking about the spiritual reality of the demonic forces, it’s like, ‘Oh, my God, this is crazy, we can’t go there,’” Karamo said. “No. It’s like, did you read the Bible? Didn’t Jesus perform exorcisms? … Scriptures are clear. And so if we’re not operating as though the spirit realities of the world exist, we’re going to fail every time.”

The convention that elected Karamo to lead the state party was attended by 2,000 delegates—but not one of the outgoing party co-chairs or any member of the state congressional delegation. But Karamo claimed the party would move forward unified. “We cannot wait to get work done as one Michigan Republican Party,” she said. “And we are going to beat the Democrats.”

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pretty much all deniers beaten? how cd this one have been close?

5. Jocelyn Benson wins second term as Michigan secretary of state

Whitmer and her Democratic allies, including Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, repeatedly stressed that democracy was on the ballot in their state — and that message clearly resonated with Michigan voters. Benson’s GOP opponent Kristina Karamo, a far-right MAGA conspiracy theorist adored by QAnon supporters, didn’t prevail. On Election Night, Benson declared victory, enjoying roughly a 12 percent lead over Karamo in the vote count and pointing out that an election denier would have been in charge of Michigan’s elections had she won.

Benson told supporters, “In this election, democracy was on the ballot. Our right to vote was on the ballot. And tonight, democracy won here in Michigan.”

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Chief Judge Timothy M. Kenny of the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed in October by Kristina Karamo, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, that sought to disqualify more than 60,000 mail-in ballots in the Democratic stronghold of Detroit ahead of Tuesday's midterms.

Karamo – a proponent of former President Donald Trump's baseless conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen – and her co-complainants argued that mail-in voting was a hotbed for voter fraud.But they never submitted any evidence of that, nor did they explain what harm was caused by allowing people to vote by mail.

"During the November 3, 2022 evidentiary hearing, Plaintiffs did not testify nor introduce any substantive exhibits into evidence. In this case, Plaintiffs' hearing witnesses consisted solely of Christopher Thomas, former Michigan State Elections Director for over 30 years and Daniel Baxter, Director of Absentee Voting Operations for the Detroit City Clerk," Kenny wrote in a 24-page order.

Kenny's opinion reflected his remarks during last week's hearing, when he expressed bewilderment over Karamo's failure to provide any proof of voter fraud through absentee ballots or that drop boxes were not secure.

“As a judge for 26 years,” Kenny said, “this is the first time I have ever had a circumstance where the party instigating a lawsuit, when asked by the judge what’s the relief you’re asking for, I don’t get an answer.”

Kenny also blasted the petitioners for waiting until the last minute to attempt to disenfranchise Michigan residents without just cause.

"Plaintiffs sat on their hands for months before bringing a complaint claiming violations of Michigan statutory election law in the August, 2022 primary and the relief sought would create the potential harm of disenfranchising tens of thousands of Detroiters in the November 8, 2022 general election. This is unacceptable and cannot be permitted," he said.

Kenny's closing statements were no less brutal.

"While it is easy to hurl accusations of violations of law and corruption, it is another matter to come forward and produce the evidence our Constitution and laws require. Plaintiffs failed, in a full day evidentiary hearing, to produce any shred of evidence. No exhibits, no testimony from any of the Plaintiffs, no evidence from Mr. Thomas or Mr. Baxter indicate the procedures for the November 8, 2022 election violate Michigan election laws. Plaintiffs have raised a false flag of election law violations and corruption concerning Detroit's procedures for the November 8th election. This Court's ruling takes down that flag," Kenny declared.

"Plaintiffs' failure to produce any evidence that the procedures for this November 8th election violate state or federal election lawdemonizes the Detroit City Clerk, her office staff, and the 1,200 volunteers working this election. These claims are unjustified, devoid of any evidentiary basis and cannot be allowed to stand. Plaintiffs' motions for mandamus, preliminary injunction, and declaratory judgment are DENIED. For the reasons stated in this Court's opinion, Plaintiffs' complaint is DISMISSED," he concluded. "This is a final order and closes the case."

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a Michigan Republican spoke to a QAnon podcast just after the 2020 election where she made some bizarre comments about Democrats, Vice News found.

Kristina Karamo, who is seen as an extremist in the race to control elections as the Michigan Secretary of State, talked about "child sacrifice" by the Democratic Party.

“If you go to the Satanic temple website, they have an entire five-minute video explaining why abortion is a religious ritual,” she said interview. “They literally say that it is a sacrifice, it is a religious ritual for them to have an abortion, it is sick. And as you mentioned, the baby body parts… they sell the organs. There’s a ton of money involved in freshly harvested organs. There’s so much evidence out there.”

Organs aren't fully formed during an abortion and wouldn't help anyone, but that logic escaped Karamo, who described it as a kind of church service happening on Satanic altars instead of in medical clinics. The belief is consistent with one of the main QAnon conspiracies and the concept of drinking the blood of the young was a key piece of the PizzaGate conspiracy theory, in which the right claims Democrats are keeping children in basements to drink their blood. A gunman showed up at the local neighborhood pizza parlor known for being a fun place for families as a result of the lies.

In another appearance with the podcast, Karamo claimed that the Jan. 6 attack on Congress in 2021 was "Antifa posing as Trump supporters." It was a conspiracy theory that Republicans tried to spin during the attack, but there was too much evidence to the contrary.

Karamo became known when she claimed she saw election fraud in 2020 while acting as a poll challenger in Detroit.Her statement was part of a challenge to the 2020 election that was thrown out by the Supreme Court. It wasn't long after she became a leading GOP candidate for the Michigan race.

She faces off against Democratic incumbent Jocelyn Benson.

Read the full report at Vice News.

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922 rww

MacKenzie Ryan @ The Guardian: ‘A white nationalist pyramid scheme’: how Patriot Front recruits young members.
Susan Rinkunas @ Jezebel: ‘Fuck It, I’ll Kill Us All’: Kristina Karamo’s Ex-Husband Accused Her of Trying to Crash Car with Entire Family Inside.

Tags: Alex Jones Doug Mastriano Greg Gutfield Jeanine Pirro Kristina Karamo Ron DeSantis Round-Up Patriot Front

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After now-President Joe Biden won Michigan in 2020’s presidential election, Christian nationalist and anti-vaxxer Kristina Karamo was among the far-right conspiracy theorists who falsely claimed that then-President Donald Trump was the real winner in that midwestern state. Now, Karamo is the Republican nominee for Michigan secretary of state, and she is hoping to unseat Jocelyn Benson — the Democratwho currently holds that position — in the 2022 midterms.

Trump and his MAGA allies were unsuccessful in their efforts to steal Michigan’s electoral votes from Biden in 2020, and Benson deserves some of the credit. As Michigan secretary of state, Benson forcefully pushed back against the Big Lie. But if Karamo defeats Benson, journalist Elaine Godfrey warns in an article published by The Atlantic on May 22, elections in Michigan will be run by a relentless Big Lie promoter.

“Barring any changes at an upcoming convention in August, and with Republicans poised to have a strong midterm election year, Karamo has a shot at victory in November,” Godfrey explains. “Michigan’s next election chief, in other words, might be one of its foremost election-conspiracy theorists. And what happens in this swing state in 2024 could tip the entire presidential outcome.”

Trump has endorsed the 36-year-old Karamo as well as Matt DePerno, the Republican nominee for Michigan attorney general — a position presently held by Democrat Dana Nessel, an ally of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (who is running for reelection).

“Despite never having held elected office, Karamo already has proved to be an enthusiastic brawler in the GOP’s culture war,” Godfrey observes. “On her theology-and-politics podcast, which she appears to have launched in 2020, Karamo has endorsed the conspiracy theory that left-wing anarchists were behind the January 6 attack on the Capitol. She has warned listeners about ‘conservative imposters’ within the Republican Party, declared herself an ‘anti-vaxxer,’ and called public schools ‘government indoctrination camps,” according to a CNN review. “More integral to Trump’s goals, though, is that Karamo has never backed down from her allegations of fraud, despite the State Senate investigation and multiple state-run election audits. She’s said that Trump, not Biden, is the real winner of Michigan — and the election.”

Jeff Timmer, former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, is a conservative who is highly critical of the GOP’s Trumpified direction in his state — and he views Karamo as dangerous. Timmer has no doubt that Karamo, as Michigan secretary of state, would try to help Trump steal the 2024 election if he were the Republican nominee.

Timmer told The Atlantic, “Without question.… she’ll use her office,” Timmer said. “They want to throw a wrench in the process, create chaos, and muscle through the results they want.”

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/big-lie-promoting-republicans-are-moving-closer-to-seizing-control-over-elections-report/

The voter suppression bills passed by GOP-controlled state legislatures all over the U.S. are being slammed by Democrats for making voting more difficult by reducing or eliminating early voting or discouraging the use of mail-in ballots. But as bad as those things are, something much more sinister and nakedly authoritarian is coming from MAGA Republicans in 2022: an effort to take control of the administration of elections, making it easier for them to simply throw out election results if they don’t like the outcome. And if the results of the 2022 midterms put enough “Stop the Steal” Republicans in control of elections, they may have a chance to do exactly that in 2024.

In an article published by the New York Times on June 15, reporters Reid J. Epstein and Nick Corasaniti take a look at MAGA efforts to gain control of election systems in key swing states such as Nevada, Pennsylvania and Arizona.Their article was published the morning after Jim Marchant, a far-right Big Lie promoter who falsely claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump, won the GOP nomination for Nevada secretary of state.

“The potential for far-right Republicans to reshape the election systems of major battleground states is growing much closer to reality,” Epstein and Corasaniti warn. “As the halfway point nears of a midterm year that is vastly friendlier to Republicans, the party’s voters have nominated dozens of candidates for offices with power over the administration and certification of elections who have spread falsehoods about the 2020 presidential contest and sowed distrust in American democracy. The only way to restore trust, these candidates say, is by electing them.”

The reporters continue, “In Michigan, Pennsylvania and now Nevada, Republican voters have elevated candidates who owe their political rise to their amplification of doubts about Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s victory, and who are now vying in elections for governor, secretary of state and attorney general — offices that will hold significant sway over the administration of the 2024 presidential election in critical swing states.”

In Pennsylvania, a key swing state that now-President Joe Biden won by only 2 percent in 2020, the Republican gubernatorial nominee is Doug Mastriano — a conspiracy theorist and Christian nationalist who is so extreme that he is even to the right of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. And in Michigan, the far-right GOP nominee for secretary of state is Kristina Karamo. Mastriano and Karamo both falsely claim that Trump won their states in 2020 despite the fact that recounts confirmed Biden’s victory.

“The rise of election deniers is far from over,” Epstein and Corasaniti note. “Primary contests coming later this month in Colorado and in early August in Arizona and Wisconsin will provide more clarity on the depth of Republican voters’ desire to rally behind candidates devoted to the false idea that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald J. Trump.”

The events that followed the 2020 presidential election were unprecedented in U.S. history. Never before in U.S. history had an incumbent president lost an election only to falsely claim that he didn’t, then do everything he could to get the election results overturned. Never before in U.S. history had the supporters of a defeated president violently attacked the U.S. Capitol Building in order to keep him in the White House and threatened to lynch the vice president for not going along with them.

Ben Berwick, counsel for the nonpartisan Protect Democracy, told the Times, “We are in a dangerous place at the moment. There is a substantial faction in this country that has come to the point where they have rejected the premise that when we have elections, the losers of the elections acknowledge the right of the winner to govern.”

Campaigning on the Big Lie isn’t necessarily a recipe for victory in a GOP primary. In Georgia’s 2022 gubernatorial primary, incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp — who acknowledges that Biden won his state fair and square in 2020 — defeated former Sen. David Perdue, a Trump-endorsed Big Lie promoter, by a brutal 52 percent. Perdue campaigned on the Big Lie, and he suffered a humiliating defeat.

But other Big Lie promoters, including Marchant and Mastriano, have won primaries.

“The number of election deniers who have won Republican nominations is quickly rising in congressional and state legislative races across the country,” Epstein and Corasaniti observe. “At least 72 members of Congress who voted to overturn the 2020 election have advanced to the general election, according to a New York Times analysis. And in Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Texas — four competitive states that have already held primaries — 157 state legislators who took concrete steps to overturn or undermine the 2020 election will be on the ballot in November.”

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, is running for reelection and is up against Audrey Trujillo, a MAGA Republican and Big Lie promoter. Trujillo won her party’s nomination on June 7.

Oliver told the Times, “We’re going to see at least one, if not more, election deniers rise to these offices in 2022. And I think we need to be scared and concerned about every single one of them.”

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