‘Big Lie’ Candidates In Big Races Tonight
Often when we’re checking for candidates who endorse Trump’s “Big Lie” — his baseless claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent — they wind up being fringe candidates or trailing in their races. But that’s less so the case tonight, where multiple candidates who support the Big Lie are competitive, or even the front-runners in some of tonight’s biggest races.
Take Pennsylvania, where Mastriano is the front-runner in the Republican primary for governor. He’s been a Big Lie proponent from the start, claiming in December 2020 that “cheating and fraud happened in our state.” As a state senator, he also attempted to launch a forensic “audit” of the state’s election results, similar to the partisan inquisition that took place in Arizona. (It failed to find any evidence of widespread fraud.) He even chartered buses to transport supporters to the “Save America” rally, which he also attended, that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. With a recent endorsement from Trump in his pocket, Mastriano may be the most ardent Big Lie supporter to have a shot at such a large nomination thus far.
The Big Lie has cast a shadow over another hot race: the GOP primary for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat. All three front-runners have offered mixed responses regarding whether they endorse the idea that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent. Oz most recently said that “we cannot move on” from the 2020 election, but he previously said that he would have voted to certify the election results — although he added that the election still needs to be investigated. McCormick has danced around the issue, refusing to say whether he believes the 2020 election was legitimate, even when Bloomberg’s Joshua Green asked him four separate times in an interview. And Barnette, who has had a surprise come-from-behind surge in recent polls, is an avid Big Lie proponent, even tweeting about a conspiracy theory “documentary” alleging voting fraud as recently as this week:
She also attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Needless to say, whoever comes out ahead in this tight race will not have had a sterling track record on upholding trust in elections.
Meanwhile, in Oregon, the GOP race for governor has also attracted a number of Big Lie supporters — though they’re mostly polling in the middle of the pack or trailing. That includes Stan Pulliam, the mayor of Sandy, Oregon, who said in a recent debate that the election was “fraudulent, completely fraudulent.” Amber Richardson, a massage therapist, and Court Boice, a county commissioner, each told Oregon Public Broadcasting they do not believe Biden won in 2020. And Marc Thielman, a former school board superintendent, reportedly made comments in support of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, while Reed Christensen, a former Intel employee, actually participated in it.
Finally in North Carolina, the picture is a bit more muddled in the marquee GOP Senate primary. Rep. Ted Budd is the current front-runner, but his stance on the Big Lie has waffled throughout the election cycle. Budd said in an interview last year that he accepts that Biden received more of the popular vote than Trump and is “the legitimate president,” but he was also among a group of Republicans in Congress who voted not to certify some of the election results. A senior adviser also recently told Newsweek that Budd “had grave concerns about the elections process in 2020 and that’s why he voted against certifying the 2020 election results.” So his stance is far from concrete.
Tonight I’m tracking all of these races and others where Big Lie believers are on the ticket:
How Big Lie supporters are doing tonight
Senate, House and gubernatorial candidates who have either denied or questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and their results in Republican primaries in Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania, as of 7:32 p.m. Eastern
| CANDIDATE | OFFICE | Big Lie Position | % REPORTING | VOTE SHARE | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brenda Bourn | ID Sen. | ❓Raised doubts | 0% | 0.0% | — |
| Edward R. Humphreys | ID Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Brad Little* | ID Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lisa Marie | ID Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Janice McGeachin | ID Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Cody Usabel | ID Gov. | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Russ Fulcher* | ID-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Daniel Algiers Lucas Levy | ID-02 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Bryan Smith | ID-02 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Valerie “Dr Val” Fredrick | KY Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 13 | 3.3 | ✗ Lost |
| Tami L. Stainfield | KY Sen. | ❓Raised doubts | 13 | 2.6 | ✗ Lost |
| John Schiess | KY Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 13 | 1.5 | ✗ Lost |
| E. Lee Watts | KY-02 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 19.1 | Trailing |
| Daniel Cobble | KY-03 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 4 | 3.7 | Trailing |
| Claire Wirth | KY-04 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 14 | 14.4 | ✗ Lost |
| Alyssa Dara McDowell | KY-04 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 14 | 4.9 | ✗ Lost |
| Harold “Hal” Rogers* | KY-05 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 11 | 82.9 | ✓ Won |
| Jeannette Andrews | KY-05 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 11 | 4.3 | ✗ Lost |
| Derek Petteys | KY-06 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 9 | 11.5 | Trailing |
| Benjamin E. Griffiths | NC Sen. | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Kenneth Harper, Jr. | NC Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Leonard L. Bryant | NC Sen. | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Drew Bulecza | NC Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| David Flaherty | NC Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Ernest Reeves | NC-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Brent Roberson | NC-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Sandy Roberson | NC-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Sandy Smith | NC-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Billy Strickland | NC-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mahesh “Max” Ganorkar | NC-02 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Christine E. Villaverde | NC-02 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Tony Cowden | NC-03 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Eric Earhart | NC-03 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Brian Michael Friend | NC-03 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Greg Murphy* | NC-03 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Courtney Geels | NC-04 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Robert Thomas | NC-04 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Virginia Foxx* | NC-05 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Michael Ackerman | NC-05 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Christian Castelli | NC-06 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Gerry Austin | NC-06 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Marvin Boguslawski | NC-06 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| David Rouzer* | NC-07 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Max Southworth-Beckwith | NC-07 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Richard Hudson* | NC-09 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jen Bucardo | NC-09 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jeff Gregory | NC-10 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Michael Magnotta | NC-10 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Madison Cawthorn* | NC-11 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Chuck Edwards | NC-11 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Kristie Sluder | NC-11 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Michele V. Woodhouse | NC-11 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Matthew Burril | NC-11 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Nalini Joseph | NC-12 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Tyler Lee | NC-12 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Renee Ellmers | NC-13 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Bo Hines | NC-13 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Chad Slotta | NC-13 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Pat Harrigan | NC-14 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jason Beebe | OR Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jo Rae Perkins | OR Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Ibra A. Taher | OR Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Court Boice | OR Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Reed Christensen | OR Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Brandon C. Merritt | OR Gov. | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Stan Pulliam | OR Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Amber R. Richardson | OR Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Bill Sizemore | OR Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Marc Thielman | OR Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Christopher A. Mann | OR-01 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Armidia “Army” Murray | OR-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mark Cavener | OR-02 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Katherine M. Gallant | OR-02 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lori Chavez-DeRemer | OR-05 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| John Di Paola | OR-05 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Laurel L. Roses | OR-05 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| David Russ | OR-06 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Amy L. Ryan Courser | OR-06 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Kathy Barnette | PA Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mehmet Oz | PA Sen. | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Sean Gale | PA Sen. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Carla Sands | PA Sen. | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lou Barletta | PA Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Douglas V. Mastriano | PA Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Dave White | PA Gov. | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Bill McSwain | PA Gov. | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Charlie Gerow | PA Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Joe Gale | PA Gov. | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Alex Entin | PA-01 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Aaron Bashir | PA-02 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Regina Mauro | PA-06 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Guy Ciarrocchi | PA-06 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Kevin Dellicker | PA-07 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lisa Scheller | PA-07 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jim Bognet | PA-08 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mike Marsicano | PA-08 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Dan Meuser* | PA-09 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Scott Perry* | PA-10 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Lloyd K. Smucker* | PA-11 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| John Joyce* | PA-13 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Guy Reschenthaler* | PA-14 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Glenn “GT” Thompson* | PA-15 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Mike Kelly* | PA-16 | 🚫 Denied legitimacy | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jeremy Shaffer | PA-17 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Jason Killmeyer | PA-17 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |
| Kathy Coder | PA-17 | ❓Raised doubts | 0 | 0.0 | — |