70 Percent of Republicans Running for Congress Doubt 2020 Election Result

The vast majority of Republicans running for Congress or in major statewide races believe — at least to some extent — former President Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, representing an alarming “new normal” for the party, a New York TimesReport findings.

More than 550 candidates were analyzed. More than 370 GOP candidates for Congress and governor, secretary or state attorney general questioned or denied the results of the 2020 election. according to the report. This represents about two-thirds of these Republican candidates and about 70 percent of those running for Congress specifically — people who could soon be put In positions of great influenceOver the process of elections and how results are tallied.

According to The New York TimesEvery state will have at least one candidate questioning the 2020 election results. The report shows that hundreds of these candidates are expected to win their races.

That this sentiment is so widespread across the party — despite and perhaps because of the fact that there is a mountain of evidence disproving Trump’s election lies — is an alarming indication that the baseline of truth has shifted among the GOP. It could also affect the outcome of future elections. The Republican Party has waged an extensive effort to destabilize election systems across the country. make it easier for their candidates to win or outright steal them.

Such candidates “are the new normal of the Republican Party,” the New York Times wrote. “These candidates represent a sentiment that is spreading in the Republican Party, rupturing a bedrock principle of democracy: that voters decide elections and candidates accept results.”

This is a much more dire outlook on the GOP’s election deniers than was previously possible. Similar analyses are from The Washington PostAnd FiveThirtyEightThe analysis also revealed that a large percentage of GOP candidates deny or question the election results. But those analyses didn’t find as large a number of election deniers, nor did they appear to have done as comprehensive an analysis of candidates’ speeches, social media posts, fundraising emails, interviews, and other campaign materials to find evidence of their denial.

The publication found that the number of GOP candidates who have questioned 2020 election results has increased over time. Of the candidates who were public figures on or before January 6, 2021, when the election results were certified by Congress and Trump militants broke into the Capitol, only 74 publicly agreed with Trump’s Big Lie. In the last few years, however, more candidates have accepted the conspiracy.

This indicates that many of these candidates likely view fealty to Trump as a winning strategy — or perhaps that they fear being isolated by the party if they choose to stand in line with reality.

Republicans have coordinated effective campaigns to shun those who denounce Trump; they successfully primaried Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming), one of Trump’s loudest Republican detractors in Congress, for instance, and are seeking To replace her with Trump-backed, anti-environmentalist candidate Harriet Hageman this fall.