Which Candidates Have Questioned The Legitimacy Of The 2020 Election?
A year and a half after the 2020 election, Trump continues to make claims that the election was fraudulent and that Biden “stole” it from him. Even though all the “evidence” supposedly backing up this claim has been summarily debunked, Trump is not alone: Many candidates up and down the ballot have endorsed Trump’s “Big Lie.”
Considering that those elected will have (varying degrees of) control over future elections, we thought it prudent to track which candidates are still baselessly questioning the last one. By our definition, that’s anyone running for Senate, House, governor, secretary of state or attorney general who has said that either Trump’s loss or the 2020 election was illegitimate or who took legal action to overturn its results. That includes incumbent members of Congress who were among the 147 Republicans who voted not to certify some of the election results, as well as more full-throated endorsements of Trump’s fraud claims.
Here’s a look at the races we’re tracking tonight. Among the candidates running for Senate, House and governor in Indiana and Ohio, we identified 25 full-blown election deniers and 11 who have questioned the 2020 election but stopped short of saying it was illegitimate:
How Big Lie supporters are doing tonight
Senate, House and governor candidates who have either denied or questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election and its results in Indiana’s and Ohio’s
GOP primaries, as of 7:05 p.m. Eastern
| CANDIDATE | OFFICE | Big Lie Position | % REPORTING | VOTE SHARE | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Leyva | IN-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0% | 0.0% | — |
| Blair E. Milo | IN-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Ben Ruiz | IN-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jackie Walorski* | IN-02 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 1 | 100.0 | — |
| Jim Baird* | IN-04 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Greg Pence* | IN-06 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 7 | 76.8 | Leading |
| Erin Houchin | IN-09 | ❓Raised doubts | 4 | 40.7 | Leading |
| Jim Baker | IN-09 | ❓Raised doubts | 4 | 5.3 | Trailing |
| J. Michael Davisson | IN-09 | ❓Raised doubts | 4 | 2.8 | Trailing |
| Steve Chabot* | OH-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jenn Giroux | OH-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| James J. Condit Jr. | OH-02 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lee R. Stahley | OH-03 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jim Jordan* | OH-04 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| John Anderson | OH-06 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Bill Johnson* | OH-06 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Gregory M. Zelenitz | OH-06 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Charlie Gaddis | OH-07 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Max Miller | OH-07 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jonah Schulz | OH-07 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Warren Davidson* | OH-08 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Beth Deck | OH-09 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Theresa Gavarone | OH-09 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| J.R. Majewski | OH-09 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| James Hemphill | OH-11 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Madison Gesiotto Gilbert | OH-13 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Janet Folger Porter | OH-13 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Dante N. Sabatucci | OH-13 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Joe Blystone | OH Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jim Renacci | OH Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mike Gibbons | OH Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Josh Mandel | OH Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Neil Patel | OH Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mark Pukita | OH Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jane Timken | OH Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| J.D. Vance | OH Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
Not all Republicans running for these offices in Indiana and Ohio back Trump’s Big Lie, though, so I’ll also be monitoring the results for the nine Republicans who have vocally accepted the 2020 election results and the four who have acknowledged Biden’s win but have still raised questions about fraud fare:
How Big Lie opponents are doing tonight
Senate, House and governor candidates who have accepted the legitimacy of the 2020 election and its results in Indiana’s and Ohio’s
GOP primaries, as of 7:05 p.m. Eastern
| CANDIDATE | OFFICE | Big Lie Position | % REPORTING | VOTE SHARE | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Lucas | IN-01 | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 0% | 0.0% | — |
| Victoria Spartz* | IN-05 | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Larry D. Bucshon* | IN-08 | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Todd Young* | IN Sen. | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 2 | 100.0 | ✓ Won |
| Brad Wenstrup* | OH-02 | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Bob Latta* | OH-05 | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Phil Heimlich | OH-08 | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mike Turner* | OH-10 | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Troy Balderson* | OH-12 | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Santana F. King | OH-13 | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| David P. Joyce* | OH-14 | ✅ Accepted 2020 results | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mike DeWine* | OH Gov. | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Matt Dolan | OH Sen. | 🤔 Accepted with reservations | 0 | 0.0 | — |
Finally, I’ll also be keeping an eye on candidates running for secretaries of state and attorneys general, as these positions have significant influence over how elections are administered. If a Big Lie believer wins one of these seats in a state, it could jeopardize future elections.