Politics

Dems highlight GOP election deniers: ‘Existential threat to our democracy’

Kyle Trygstad

09:30 AM, Sep 30, 2022

The Texas State Capitol Building in Austin (Photo: Reid Wilson, Pluribus News)

The chief campaign committee dedicated to electing Democratic state legislators is highlighting the number of Republican candidates running for office this year who actively denied the legitimacy of the 2020 elections.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee launched a website this month detailing its research into statements, attempts to overturn the results, and even attendance at the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by GOP legislators and candidates.

The DLCC says 638 Republicans on ballots this November have taken part, to some degree, in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including 16 who were said to be in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. The aim is to motivate voters to turn out for what are normally lower-profile races and in what’s historically a difficult political environment for the party in power in the White House.

“Make no mistake, state capitals are on the frontlines of the battle to protect fair and free elections this cycle,” DLCC President Jessica Post said in a statement. “The GOP has moved the insurrection from the Capitol to statehouses across the country in an attempt to solidify their power and control the outcomes of future elections, posing an existential threat to our democracy.”

According to forecast ratings by CNalysis, there are several state legislative chambers in play in November. They include both the state House and Senate in Maine, Michigan, Minnesota and Oregon. The DLCC listed numerous incumbents and candidates in each of those states who “helped spread Donald Trump’s Big Lie.”

Along with this line of criticism, the party has also used the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the ensuing domino effect in state legislative action to urge voters to get to the polls.

Republicans, who are seeking to win back control of Congress as well as make further inroads in statehouses, continue to tie Democratic candidates to President Biden and his policies, which they say led to the spike in inflation this year.