In swing state after swing state, those who vehemently deny the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election have lost the 2022 race.
For 2020’s deniers, the midterms certainly weren’t a total failure. CNN expects four Republican candidates who have rejected, questioned or attempted to overturn a victory for President Joe Biden, all from Republican-dominated states, to be elected as state election leaders. At least 18 such candidates will be elected governor or senator, the CNN Project, most of them incumbents.
But CNN predicts that many of the most dishonest candidates in the 2020 election will lose — especially several candidates who are running for election-critical positions in states expected to be competitive in the 2024 presidential race. Lost candidates for the CNN project will include Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial candidates Doug Mastriano and Michigan’s Tudor Dixon, Arizona’s Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem, Nevada’s Jim Marchant and Michigan’s Kristina Karamo, and Nevada’s U.S. Senate Candidate Adam Laxalt.
Secretary of State: CNN counted 12 Republican nominees for state election chairpersons who rejected, questioned or tried to overturn the 2020 election results. CNN expects four of those candidates to be winners (all in Republican-dominated states) and eight candidates to be losers (including Michigan, Arizona and Nevada). That means any state expected to be a presidential battleground in 2024 will not have its election chief in 2020.
Governor: CNN counted 22 Republican gubernatorial candidates who rejected, challenged, attempted to overturn or refused to confirm the 2020 election results. CNN expects eight of the candidates to be winners and 12 to be losers (including Pennsylvania far-right election conspiracy theorist Doug Mastriano, who will gain the power to appoint the state’s election chief). It’s too early to have two people in the race, including Arizona’s strong election denier, Cary Lake.
Senate: CNN counted 19 Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate who rejected, questioned, attempted to overturn or refused to confirm the 2020 results. (Senators have less electoral power than a secretary of state or a governor, but they do gain votes in proving the results of the Electoral College in presidential elections and federal election legislation.) CNN expects 10 of the candidates to be the winners and eight to be the winners. Loser. One is too early in the game to call.
You can find out the projected winners and losers in the interaction below. CNN will update this article as more information becomes available.
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