Trump backs supporters of ‘big lie’ for state election posts KIRO 7 News Seattle

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NEW YORK – (AP) Before winning Donald Trump’s hoped -for endorsement of his career as Arizona’s top election official, Mark Finchem received numerous calls from people close to the former president who clarified that they approved the work he is doing to challenge the results of the 2020 Election.

“They said they noticed me,” said Finchem, a state representative who was outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 uprising and was a major proponent of a broad-pan partisan ballot analysis. in Arizona. In subsequent talks, he said, Trump praised his work and announced that he would continue.

While Trump is considering another presidential run in 2024, he has taken a similar interest in important but relatively unobtrusive careers on other critical battlefields, throwing his support behind the candidates. who not only continued the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, but in some cases also actively tried to reverse the results. The moves reflect Trump’s desire to exert influence at all levels of the Republican Party and install allies in critical roles in states that could be more conducive to helping him overturn the results. in future elections.

President Trumps has failed attempts to overturn the results and the will of the people is just beginning, said Jena Griswold, Colorado’s secretary of state, who serves as head of the Democratic Association of State Secretaries, a group dedicated in the selection of Democrats in the positions.

While careers for secretary of state and attorney general have been marked by a history of higher -profile contests, offices have significant powers. Attorneys general are their state’s top law enforcement officers, while secretaries of state serve as chief election officials, overseeing efforts such as voter registration and mail ballot distribution, depending. in the state.

Rick Pildes, a professor of constitutional law at New York University School of Law, said Trump’s attention to the positions has shifted to the types of candidates they attract, with more partisan activists “interested.

This is a rare thing for a former president who may be looking to run again to weigh in on the secretary of state offices. I dont know if weve ever seen that before, ”Pildes said.

Despite the lack of convincing evidence to support Trump’s allegations of voter fraud, the former president has continued to push “big lies,” making it a litmus test for GOP candidates. Trump remains deeply popular with Republican voters, most of whom continue to believe the election was stolen, despite dozens of state and local election officials, numerous judges and Trump’s own attorney. who said President Joe Biden won fairly.

Emphasizing that power, one in 10 House Republicans who voted to overthrow Trump in the wake of the Capitol uprising announced last week that he would retire rather than face what is expected to be a major pass from a Trump -driven challenge.

1 down, 9 to go! Trump rang.

Trump is now pushing his ballot and has so far endorsed three candidates running for secretary of state, all in states that could play key roles in determining the outcome of the 2024 presidential election and which have been refuted by officially his effort to overturn the results last year

His slowing down about strategy is open.

Our top priority is to endorse strong fighters who care about the integrity of the election, Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington said. He noticed when people were fighting for the truth about the election results in November.

In Arizona, which has been a major frontier in Republicans ’disinformation war, Trump last week backed Finchem, a voice advocate of the state’s self -assessment of the 2020 vote count in Maricopa County. Election experts cited numerous evaluation inaccuracies, from biased and inexperienced contractors to the conspiracy of lenders to conspiracy and strange, unreliable methods.

Finchem believes the state results should be certified, and he has a role to play in efforts to undermine vote confidence, including bringing Rudy Giuliani and other Trump lawyers to Phoenix to state the false accusation. of fraud.

Democrats ’push to oust Finchem from the Arizona House failed after he was photographed outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when Trump supporters stormed the building, trying to stop certification of Biden’s victory. Finchem said he was in the area to speak at a permitted rally and did not know the Capitol had been violated until hours later.

With Michigan state’s race secretary, Trump endorsed Kristina Karamo, who supported an unsuccessful lawsuit from Texas that attempted to prevent Michigan and three other states from casting their election votes for Biden. For Georgia’s secretary of state, Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, a loyalist who voted against verifying election results and running to remove the position of Republican incumbent Brad Raffensperger, who stood by Georgia’s election results and rejected Trump’s pleas to “seek” more votes. , annoying former president.

Trump on Friday sent a letter to Raffensperger requesting that he begin the process of decertifying the Election, or whatever the right remedy is, and announce the real winner.

In addition to the state’s career secretary, Trump last week endorsed Matt DePerno, a Michigan attorney who runs for the state attorney general and debunked claims about vote-counting machines in the Michigan election in 2020. A report from the Republican -controlled Michigan Senate found no evidence of fraud alleging DePerno and recommended the current attorney general investigate those lacking election misinformation.

DePerno has since been proud to raise more than $ 400,000 to help fund his lawsuit and separately paid $ 280,000 to fund the Arizona election review.

Griswold, the Democratic secretary of state in Colorado, said the stakes in 2022 are high, with elections coming to five swing states Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan and Georgia along with countless county -level races. .

Democracy is on the ballot in 2022, Griswold said, seeking re -election. We need to see people who believe in democracy and the will of the people in these roles. “

Trey Grayson, a Republican who served as Kentucky’s secretary of state from 2004 to 2011, said Trump’s endorsement could be a strong force in careers, but choosing candidates based on loyalty and adherence to big Lies are probably not the best way to win the general election and enter the office of good people.

And he moaned at the message it could send if, for example, it ended up with Raffensperger being defeated in Georgia.

The message it sends is that if you do the right thing, you will be punished, “he said.” And that bothers me it really bothers me as someone who cares about democracy and someone who cares a lot. the Republican Party. “

Pildes said that, when it comes to election administration, even the perception of partisan intervention can be detrimental.

Concern is heightened if elected officials feel they owe their political success to a particular candidate, Pildes said.

Finchem, for his part, said Trump did not mention 2024 in their calls.

As far as the president’s plans and his strategy, which is beyond my payment grade … and, honestly, I don’t want to know. When a secretary of state is elected, once that choice is made, ”he said,“ you really have a responsibility to be as non -partisan as possible.

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Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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