Prominent election deniers are running again in 2024, but some have toned down their claims

At least 17 Republican candidates, who previously centered their campaigns around false claims regarding the 2020 election, are running for office again in 2024. Unlike their earlier campaigns, these candidates are now emphasizing “election security” and “election integrity” instead of insisting the 2020 race was fraudulently taken from Donald Trump. This strategic shift comes after notable losses by election deniers in key battleground states during the last midterm elections, highlighting a broader appeal to voters beyond staunch Trump supporters.

Veteran Republican strategist Alex Conant remarked, “That message didn’t work,” indicating a party-wide desire to focus on winning future elections by addressing voter concerns about election security rather than dwelling on past conspiracy theories.

Joanna Lydgate, CEO of States United Action, a nonpartisan group, noted that the election denial movement has eroded trust in the electoral process and resulted in increased threats to election officials. She emphasized the importance of remembering the harm caused by these candidates’ previous stances.

Several of these candidates are from pivotal swing states, with a few notable examples:

• Kari Lake, running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, has shifted focus from election denial to border security and the economy, despite her previous campaign’s heavy emphasis on Trump’s claims.
• Mark Finchem, aiming for the Arizona state Senate, has moderated his public statements from direct election fraud claims to advocating for “comprehensive election reforms.”
• Abraham Hamadeh, running for a U.S. House seat in Arizona, continues to highlight “election integrity” despite his ongoing promotion of unfounded claims regarding his and the 2020 elections.

Candidates like Jim Marchant in Nevada and Dan Cox in Maryland, along with others, are incorporating election reform and integrity into their platforms without explicitly revisiting their prior false allegations about the 2020 election.