concede peaceful trans pwr

belated primary 7 24

see big lie gt replacment theory

see trump coup sedition caucus

#1 fundamental norm

merri ok

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an 9 24

Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias, publisher of Democracy Docket, has been warning that if Vice President Kamala Harris defeats former President Donald Trump in November, far-right MAGA Republicans will try everything they can to overturn the election results. And those Trump loyalists, according to Elias, are much better organized in 2024 than they were in 2020.

Not all Republicans, however, are on board with election denialism. And some U.S. House Republicans, according to Politico's Sarah Ferris, have "signed a bipartisan pledge to uphold the results of the 2024 election."

More than 30 lawmakers serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Ferris reports, signed the pledge. Most were Democrats, but a "half dozen" were Republicans — including Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), who organized the effort with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey).

Other House Republicans who signed the pledge included Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, and Reps. Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota and Anthony D'Esposito of New York State.

Bacon, in an official statement, said, "In America, we respect election results, especially once the courts and appeals work through the process. We fight hard to win during campaigns and then respect the results when the votes are counted."

Ferris notes that Trump "has continued to insist that he did not lose the election in 2020" and has been "stoking fear that he may again encourage his supporters to block certification of the election next January if he loses for a second time."

"None of the six Republicans who signed the pledge voted against certifying the 2020 election on January 6, 2021," the Politico reporter observes. "Several of them were not yet in office. A total of 139 House Republicans did vote against certifying President Joe Biden's victory.

READ MORE:['Nothing is off the table': Trump plans for 'bureaucratic bullying' of enemies if he wins

*Read Politico's full article at this link.

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an 7 24

Just as some Republican election officials across the nation assisted Donald Trump with his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, "at least 70" of the former president's allies are expected to do the same in November, according to results from an investigation by Rolling Stone published Monday.

Per Rolling Stone, "Republicans have refused to certify election results at least 25 times since Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden."

The publication reports:

*Rolling Stone and American Doom compiled its list of election denying election officials by culling media reports about refusals to certify results and other denialist behavior — and by searching the social media profiles of hundreds of election officials in the six swing states.

*The investigation revealed hundreds of posts from officials expressing belief in lies about the 2020 election and skepticism about November, as well as myriad posts about every right-wing culture war issue and conspiracy theory imaginable — a veritable stew simmering with the toxicity of the online American right.

"'I think we are going to see mass refusals to certify the election' in November," Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias told Rolling Stone. "Everything we are seeing about this election is that the other side is more organized, more ruthless, and more prepared."

In partnership with American Doom — 'a newsletter that focuses on right-wing extremism and other threats to democracy" — Rolling Stone "compiled its list of election denying election officials by culling media reports about refusals to certify results and other denialist behavior — and by searching the social media profiles of hundreds of election officials in the six swing states."

Pickens County, Georgia election official Larry Brown posted, "I don’t trust the runoff," just "two weeks after the 2020 election, as Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock faced Republican Kelly Loeffler in a runoff."

Additionally, Gwinnett County, Georgia official David Hancock wrote on Facebook earlier this year: "At this moment there are NO guidelines on what is required to certify an election in Georgia. But some of us are working to change that. Stand by."

Rolling Stone also notes:

*On June 11, Republican Clara Andriola, who was expelled from her local party for not towing the line on election denialism, faced off against Mark Lawson, a former firefighter who was fired for possession and distribution of steroids and who has questioned the results of the 2020 election. Andriola won, but local Republicans cited problems with mail-in ballots — and a bizarre claim about someone in a vote-counting room with a thumb drive — as evidence of fraud. On June 21, Washoe County commissioners Michael Clark and Jeanne Herman, both Republicans, voted against certifying the results of the primary. Andriola voted with the commission’s two Democrats to certify results, which showed her beating Lawson by 1,725 votes.

Per the publication, Elias "believes the findings in this investigation only represent 'the tip of the iceberg,' because Republicans 'are counting on not just that they can disrupt the election in big counties, they are counting on the fact that if they don’t certify in several small counties, you cannot certify these statewide results.'"

*Rolling Stone's full report is available here(subscription required).

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7 24 kari lake beats sheriff mark lamb in primary and

A Republican election official who has been overseeing the voting process in Arizona's most populous county for the last four years was just voted out in Tuesday night's GOP primary.

The Associated Press called the race Wednesday morning, with Republican state representative Justin Heap in a comfortable lead over incumbent Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer. Don Hiatt, another GOP challenger, placed third. According to NBC News, Heap had the backing of MAGA aligned GOP Senate nominee Kari Lake, who continues to insist that former President Donald Trump was the true winner of the 2020 election. She has also refused to acknowledge her loss in the 2022 gubernatorial election, in which Democrat Katie Hobbs won by roughly 17,000 votes statewide.

"I am endorsing Justin Heap for the Maricopa County recorder because we want honest elections,” said Lake last month. “We need a heap of honesty in our elections.”

After the GOP primary results were announced, both moderate conservatives and independents mourned Richer's loss. 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang tweeted that Richer losing the primary was a "terrible sign for the AZ Republican Party," and noted that he "stood up for election integrity despite threats and attacks."

"Much love and gratitude to Stephen Richer and the rest who took abuse for doing their jobs with integrity in Maricopa County," tweeted Bulwark podcast host Tim Miller.

Richer was an outlier in the modern Republican Party, given his commitment to overseeing fair elections and not trafficking in election conspiracies in the midst of threats from the MAGA faction of the GOP. Maricopa County Republican Party vice chair Shelby Busch said in June that she would "lynch" Richer, and refused to walk back the comment, saying it was made "in jest." Richer condemned Busch for the remark in an interview with AZFamily.com.

“If lynching is in your vocabulary you need to have a heart to heart with yourself,” Richer said. “That shouldn’t be in your vocabulary given the history of that term and it shouldn’t be on your vocabulary to say about anyone you with whom you disagree.”

In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter) after his loss was announced, Richer pledged to use the remaining few months in his position to ensure that either Heap or Democratic nominee Timothy Stringham would be able to have a smooth transition into their new role. He added that he would work to "ensure the continued efficient and lawful execution of my duties in recording, voter registration, and mail voting."

"Elections have winners and, sadly, losers. And in this one, it looks like I'm going to end up on the losing side of the column," Richer tweeted. "But that's the name of the game. Accept it. Move on."

Click here to read NBC's report in full.

READ MORE:['Chaos': GOP officials in AZ county cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands in election fights

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an 1 24

Trump complains it was 'ridiculous' he had to 'follow the laws' and leave office - Alternet.org

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aha these are norms now backed by law

an 2 23 maya

Election officials, legislators and advocates across the country, who are mostly Democrats, are fighting "the wave of misinformation and mistrust of elections" fueled by election deniers in preparation for the 2024 presidential election, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Inspired by former President Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud during the 2020 election, election deniers have forced election officials and administrators to adhere to "demands that go beyond their official powers — to stop using electronic voting equipment, to hand-count all ballots, to end mail voting or to refuse to certify results."

Per The Post, this "pressure and abuse" has caused "hundreds" of officials to step down from their roles.

Now, many Democratic officials are implementing practices to fight against the "election denialism" plaguing many GOP supporters and officials, which will likely persist in the coming year.

The Post reported:

When the new Arizona attorney general took office last month, she repurposed a unit once exclusively devoted to rooting out election fraud to focus on voting rights and ballot access.

In North Carolinaon Tuesday, the State Board of Elections began proceedings that could end with the removal of a county election officer who had refused to certify the 2022 results even as he acknowledged the lack of evidence of irregularities.

And later this week, a group of secretaries of state will showcase a 'Democracy Playbook' that includes stronger protections for election workers and penalties for those who spread misinformation.

"We want to protect the people who protect democracy," said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D). "Individuals who intentionally spread misinformation that then leads to threats or worse targeting election officials are just as culpable and should be held culpable just as those who are actually exercising the threats themselves."

Regarding heightened violence from election deniers, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) said, "We're facing a new world in which elections officials are experiencing death threats, in which voters are being intimidated by people showing up at the ballot box, at voting centers, wearing body armor and carrying guns, and in which the Republican Party is trying to undermine vote-by-mail. Those are all things that I think this unit can and should now be focused on."

AlterNet previously reported Solomon Peña, an ex-GOP candidate was arrested after he conspired a series of drive-by shootings targeting Democratic lawmakers, claiming his election was "rigged."

Benson is collaborating with Lansing, Michigan legislators to hike up punishments for those who "threaten election officials or releasing private information about them," and taking steps to propose a law that would legislation that would make spreading election misinformation illegal, according to The Post.

NPR reports Pennsylvania is "still grappling with the aftermath of the 2020 election," as the state continues to be "a hotbed for election deniers and misinformation."

William Martin, an election official in suburban Philadelphia said, "I am profoundly offended to listen to baseless allegations of fraud against me and against other county workers. It's time to put up or shut up. If you think there is fraud, sue me. Sue me! Sue me personally. Because then when it gets thrown out, I'll sue you for abuse of process. Sue me!"

Executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, Lisa Schaefer, contends "Those counties are dealing with people who, over and over, no matter how many times they've seen the evidence of the integrity of the election, continue to come and yell and be insulting."

Canton, Michigan Township Clerk Michael Siegrist reiterated the need to enforce penalties for all forms of election denialism.

"Someone’s going to have to bring some char_{g}_es against some folks," Siegrist told The Post. "This notion of, 'I'm going to come in and try to re-litigate an election afterwards in the court of public opinion,' especially if it relates to a scheme to overturn the validity of an election — that stuff just needs to have consequences."

The Washington Post's full report is available at this link. NPR's can be viewed here.

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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/far-right-congressional-candidate-laura-loomer-predictably-refuses-to-concede/

no lnx twt

Far-Right Congressional Candidate LauraLoomer Predictably Refuses to Concede

By Kristen Doerer | August 24, 2022

Laura Loomer poses with Roger Stone, a leader of the so-called "Stop the Steal" campaign. Photo from campaign Facebook page.]

Laura Loomer—a far-right activist so extreme that she would have easily eclipsed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as the most far-right congresswoman—lost her bid for the GOP nomination to Congress in Florida’s 11th Congressional District.

The Associated Press called the race in favor of longtime Republican Rep. Daniel Webster late Tuesday night. Webster, who was the preferred candidate of religious-right groups like the Family Research Council, had clinched 51 percent of the vote;Loomer had won 44 percent.

Nevertheless, Loomer refused to concede and declared the election fraudulent.

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“I’m not conceding because I’m a winner, and the reality of this is our Republican Party is broken to its core,” she said to supporters after the results came in Tuesday night.

“What we have done tonight has really honestly shocked the nation, we have further exposed the corruption in our own feckless, cowardly Republican Party.”

“It breaks my heart that we are in a position in this country today where the Republican Party establishment is participating in the voter fraud machine. And I stand on the stage before you today with the American flag behind me to tell you that we do not live in a free country. We do not live in a country with free and fair elections,” she said.

Only about an hour before, Loomer seemed to acknowledge that she would lose to Webster, Mike DeForest of News 6 reported. “A win’s a win, and a loss is a loss,” Loomer told a supporter who was trying to cheer her up. White nationalist Lauren Witzke interjected. “No, no, no. You are our next congresswoman,” she told Loomer.

Loomer’s baseless accusation of fraud and refusal to concede was predictable—if not still damaging to public trust in the integrity of our elections. Since former President Donald Trump refused to concede his loss in the 2020 election, every Trumpian Republican candidate running for federal, state, and local level who loses can now claim electoral fraud and allege a grand conspiracy against them even if they’ve only won a few hundred votes.

A score of far-right activists attended Loomer’s planned “victory party,” including Witzke, who was the Delaware GOP nominee for Senate in 2020, Nick Fuentes and Tyler Russell of the white nationalist America First movement, Peter Brimelow of the white nationalist-promoting VDARE website, and Edward Szall, who has somehow only become more extreme since he left his job at the brazenly antisemitic TruNews.

“We’re so proud of you, Laura!” Witzke posted on Telegram with a photo of the “celebration.”

Lauren Witzke shared a photo from Laura Loomer’s 2022 planned “victory” party on Telegram. Among those who attended were far-right activists Ed Szall, Tyler Russell, Peter and Linda Brimelow, Lauren Witzke, and Nick Fuentes. Loomer is pictured center in yellow.]

Far-right activists and operatives predictably jumped on Loomer’s false election fraud narrative or else tried to spin her loss into a win.

Radical conspiracy theorist Stew Peters said that the election must be rigged, writing on Telegram, “Here’s some fake results from a fake election – because, every election is fake and rigged.” Tyler Russell, who has dubbed himself the leader of the Canadian offshoot of the America First movement, agreed. “LOOMER IS RIGHT FOR NOT CONCEDING! RINOS ARE RIGGING!” he wrote on Telegram.

Even ahead of voters casting their votes, Trumpian operative Ali Alexander—who led the so-called “Stop the Steal” campaign to keep Trump in power and who baselessly alleged voter fraud to justify such efforts—suggested the only way Webster could win would be through fraud: “don’t put cheating and grifting past the establishment,” he wrote.

On Tuesday night, Alexander briefly seemed to acknowledge Loomer’s loss, blaming Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene for not donating to Loomer as well as Trump’s advisers for keeping the former president from endorsing her.

“Real talk: Gaetz or MTG could’ve put Loomer over the top. $200,000 more dollars could’ve,” Alexander wrote on Telegram. “Trump’s advisors not blocking a Loomer endorsement could’ve put her over the top.”

But Ali went on to call the primary a “Rigged game,” and suggested something nefarious was afloat. “Just magically outside the margin of a runoff? What a coincidence!” he wrote. In another post, he wrote, “STOP THE STEAL.”

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Fuentes—who has referred to Loomer “as one of our own”—spun her loss as a win for the white nationalist America First movement.

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“Despite being the most cancelled woman in America,” Fuentes wrote, “She out-raised her opponent in every single quarter and came within 6,000 votes of Congress.”

“Tonight showed that there is very little left in the way of REAL AMERICA FIRST PATRIOTS like Laura Loomer from TAKING OVER!”

As Right Wing Watch reported ahead of the GOP primary, Loomer was eager to spread her extremism throughout the halls of Congress and promised to promote both white nationalism and Christian nationalism. We reported:

Loomer has long rallied behind white nationalist figures, spread right-wing conspiracy theories, and promoted disinformation. She proclaimed that she did not care about what happened to Muslims in the 2019 Christchurch shooting in New Zealand, where more than 50 people were murdered by a white supremacist.

In March, Loomer joined white nationalist Jared Taylor’s podcast and told him that she thought her white nationalist views would get her elected to Congress. She switched districts, she said, because Florida’s 11th District has more white people and she could be more honest about her extreme right-wing views. She went on to praise Taylor’s “white advocacy”—the preferred term of white nationalists to describe their efforts to secure a nation ruled by white people.

Loomer addressed her supporters in a Telegram post Wednesday afternoon. In it, she accused the Republican Party of being “an active participant in the voter fraud machine here in America,” called for Webster to resign, and again, refused to concede, illustrating the monster the Republican Party itself created by choosing to peddle election fraud conspiracy theories in its effort to keep Trump in power.

Tags: Ali Alexander Daniel Webste rLaura Loomer Lauren Witzke Nick Fuentes Peter Brimelow Stew Peters Tyler Russell conspiracy theories Election 2022 election fraud Stop the Steal

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/im-not-conceding-far-right-laura-loomer-blames-big-tech-after-losing-gop-congressional-primary/

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aha GOP cognitive dissonance: beleive they say in democracy, but realize they cannot win in mktplace of ideas, demographic shift, and they are inherently winners (b/c blessed by god?); thus if # say they lost election, it must be b/c dems cheated [tammany hall machine pol hillary corrupt]; or like eastman/rudy will pretend to beleive voter fraud if enable hold on to power // auth fascist disable norms, institutions and shared sense of reality/ empirical fact

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testified day 4 praise RR on election day transfer miracle; dtr term ill, big pathos; xian // VP staff/lawyer in basement 1/6?

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/donald-trump-rusty-bowers/ attack cohen ctr-punch BS?

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/arizona-gop-lawmaker/

An Arizona Republican lawmaker is speaking out about the pressures he faced from former President Donald Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and the former president's allies amid Republicans' attempts to overturn the presidential election.

According to NPR.org, Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) recently testified and shared details about his conversations with Giuliani where he claimed undocumented voters were responsible for casting illegal ballots. He also claimed votes had been cast on behalf of a substantial number of deceased individuals.

But instead of just running with Giuliani's claims, Bowers and other Republican legislators requested he provide solid evidence to back the tall accusations. "In my recollection," Bowers said of Giuliani, "he said, We have lots of theories we just don't have the evidence.'"

Bowers also recalled how Giuliani also "pressured him to call the Arizona legislature back into session — a unilateral move Bowers said he cannot do — to recall the electors that would be going to President Biden after Biden beat Trump in the state."

"It is a tenet of my faith that theConstitution is divinely inspired," he said, growing visibly emotional. "I would not do it."

He noted that the former president also echoed similar sentiments but he didn't believe the evidence they provided to back their claims "merited a hearing."

"You are asking me to do something against my oath, andI will not break my oath," he said he told Trump and Giuliani, to which the former New York mayor said: "Aren't we all Republicans here? I would think we'd get a better reception."

Trump-supporting lawyer John Eastman also contacted Bowers by phone as he echoed Trump and Giuliani's demands. "His suggestion was that we would do it, and I said I can't," Bowers said, adding that Eastman pressured him by telling him to "just do it and let the courts sort it out."

In addition to pressure from Trump's allies, Bowers also noted that the former president's supporters also expressed concern about the outcome of the election. He revealed, per NPR.org, that "his office was subject to over 20,000 emails, thousands of voicemails and texts from those who believed he was wrong to not recall the electors."

"Up until recently, it is a new pattern in our lives to worry what will happen on Saturdays," he said of his family. "Because we have various groups come by."

Bowers has also faced a litany of accusations including being called "a pedophile and corrupt politician" as video trucks drive through his neighborhood and threaten his neighbors."It was disturbing," he said emotionally as he recalled what transpired.

3% gun on hip verbally threat neighbor "I knew I had to get close" to WHAT?!

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/this-christian-nationalist-won-3-4-of-the-vote-in-georgias-gop-gubernatorial-primary-but-claims-otherwise/

no lnx twt

This Christian nationalist won 3.4 percent of the vote in Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial primary — and refused to concede

Kandiss Taylor in 2022, from Facebook]

Alex Henderson June 09, 2022

In Georgia’s 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary, one of the candidates was even more extreme than former Sen. David Perdue:Christian nationalist and far-right conspiracy theorist Kandiss Taylor, whose campaign theme was “Jesus, guns and babies.” Taylor campaigned on ridding Georgia’s government of Satanic influence, winning only 3.4 percent of the vote when the primary was held on May 24. But Taylor, in true MAGA fashion, is claiming that the election results are false — and in order to prove it, she is asking Georgia residents to sign notarized affidavits saying that they voted for her.

The primary was a humiliation for former President Donald Trump and a colossal victory for incumbent Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who defeated Perdue by 52 percent. Perdue, endorsed by Trump, campaigned on the Big Lie, falsely claiming that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and slamming Kemp for acknowledging that now-President Joe Biden legitimately won in Georgia.

But after his loss, Perdue wasted no time congratulating Kemp — and he is now urging Georgia Republicans to vote for the conservative Georgia governor, who is competing with Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams in the general election. Kemp narrowly defeated Abrams in Georgia’s gubernatorial election of 2018.

At least Perdue won 21 percent of the vote compared to only 3.4 percent for Taylor. Regardless, Taylor has refused to concede and is claiming that she really won a lot more votes.In a video, Taylor tells her supporters, “I need you to do an affidavit and say that you voted for her, because she’s standing up to the establishment — and we’re going to prove that she got hundreds of thousands of votes because we know she did.”

According to the Associated Press, Kemp had received at least 885,551 votes in the primary after 99 percent of the vote had been counted — compared to 261,706 for Perdue and41,109 for Taylor, who is insisting that those numbers are false and that she is a victim of election fraud.

“They actually were trying to make me look stupid,” Taylor says in the video. “And it’s going to come back to bite them because we’re going to have way more than that in affidavits to show that we have more votes than that…. (God) will outsmart crooks every single time. This is His idea.”

In another post-election video, Taylor declared, “I do not concede. I do not. And if the people who did this and cheated are watching, I do not concede. And the people of Georgia will not allow me to…. I want you to feel, inside of your gut, a righteous anger for justice. I want you to pray specifically for dark to be brought to light, for justice for the state of Georgia. And anyone who has helped contribute to thiscrime,to this travesty…. I want you to pray that they feel so guilty, they come forward.”

Taylor’s campaign was endorsed by MAGA conspiracy theorists who include MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and QAnon supporter Lauren Witzke, the Delaware Republican who suffered a landslide defeat when she ran against Democratic Sen. Chris Coons in 2020.

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