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{"id":26276,"date":"2026-07-22T05:17:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/the-top-of-arizonas-gop-ticket-is-littered-with-2020-election-deniers\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T05:17:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T05:17:18","slug":"the-top-of-arizonas-gop-ticket-is-littered-with-2020-election-deniers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/the-top-of-arizonas-gop-ticket-is-littered-with-2020-election-deniers\/","title":{"rendered":"The top of Arizona\u2019s GOP ticket is littered with 2020 election deniers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>To make it out of a Republican primary in Arizona, there\u2019s one key litmus test: believing the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Election deniers who played prominent roles in efforts to overturn the 2020 results triumphed in statewide Republican primaries Tuesday, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/21\/biggs-wins-arizona-governor-primary-01007354\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Andy Biggs for governor<\/a> to state Rep. Alexander Kolodin for secretary of state. State Senate President Warren Petersen was leading his primary for attorney general, though his race was not yet called as of early Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n<p>Biggs, a staunch Trump ally who helped try and overturn the election on Jan. 6, 2021, was later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/04\/04\/biggs-gosar-arizona-subpoenas-00150416\" target=\"_blank\">subpoenaed in an Arizona probe<\/a>. Kolodin represented a slate of fake electors, leading to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kjzz.org\/2023-12-15\/content-1865727-state-bar-disciplines-arizona-lawmaker-who-represented-fake-electors\" target=\"_blank\">discipline<\/a> from the Arizona state bar, and filed lawsuits to try to overturn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kjzz.org\/politics\/2026-07-07\/republican-candidates-for-arizona-secretary-of-state-diverge-on-stolen-election-claims\" target=\"_blank\">both the 2020 and 2022 elections<\/a>. Petersen <a href=\"http:\/\/google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.votebeat.org\/arizona\/2026\/03\/09\/maricopa-county-2020-election-fbi-records-warren-petersen\/&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1784696630433902&amp;usg=AOvVaw0p6MBF65PqSYNptvAH5YaQ\" target=\"_blank\">launched a taxpayer-funded audit<\/a> into Maricopa County\u2019s election system that eventually led to a subpoena.<\/p>\n<p>Their victories show GOP primary voters continue to prefer candidates who have pushed false narratives about elections or worked to overturn them. But that can prove toxic in November \u2014 and Democrats plan to make their rivals pay for those positions in the fall.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s one of those things that just won&#8217;t go away,\u201d said former Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.). \u201cIn the Republican Party in Arizona, in the primary, carrying the Trump line on virtually everything \u2014 and that includes election denialism \u2014 is still something that benefits you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But in the general election, \u201cit\u2019s a stone around your neck,\u201d Salmon said. \u201cAmong independents and moderate Republicans who vote in the general election, election denialism is not an asset.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Each of the triumphant election deniers Tuesday centered election integrity in their 2026 campaigns. Biggs has been a prominent supporter of the SAVE America Act, the stalled election bill that Trump has pushed repeatedly. Kolodin has advocated for ending Arizona\u2019s permanent early voting list and for stringent ID requirements. And Petersen has pledged to expand the attorney general office\u2019s election integrity unit in order to investigate election results. Arizona was one of the most competitive \u2014 and most contested \u2014 states in the 2020 election. Fox News\u2019 decision to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2023\/11\/14\/trump-2020-election-fox-news-00127110\" target=\"_blank\">declare then-candidate Joe Biden\u2019s victory<\/a> in the state on election night sent shockwaves through Trump\u2019s orbit. It took then-Republican Gov. Doug Ducey several weeks to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2020\/11\/24\/gov-doug-ducey-joe-biden-did-win-arizona\/6407070002\/\" target=\"_blank\">acknowledge Biden won<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Grand Canyon State became ground zero for Trump\u2019s effort to overturn the election. Trump and his allies pressured Arizona leaders, including then-House Speaker Rusty Bowers, to call the legislature back into session and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/06\/21\/1106413341\/arizona-lawmaker-rusty-bowers-pressure-giuliani\" target=\"_blank\">recall the state\u2019s slate of electors<\/a>. A group of Republicans falsely posing as alternate electors were later charged with forgery, fraud and conspiracy, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/arizona-fake-electors-2020-presidential-election-charges-83d134e0928aaf4396d404329dad4242\" target=\"_blank\">a case that is ongoing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Even still, running as an election denier hasn\u2019t been a successful strategy for the Arizona GOP once November rolls around. In 2022, Arizona Republicans nominated hardline election deniers up and down the ballot \u2014 Kari Lake for governor, Blake Masters for U.S. Senate, and Mark Finchem for secretary of state \u2014 and saw losses in each race, even as Republicans nationally enjoyed an otherwise strong year. And in 2024, Lake again lost, this time for U.S. Senate, even as Trump won the state by more than five percentage points.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBiggs and Kolodin will be saddled with election denialism for the next three months,\u201d said longtime Arizona GOP strategist Barrett Marson. \u201cWhile Democrats would be wise to focus on affordability, certainly some of their talking points will focus on how these two are dangerous for democracy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary Tuesday and will face Biggs in November, served as secretary of state during the 2020 election. She has portrayed this year\u2019s gubernatorial election as a contrast between confidence and conspiracy in the state\u2019s election system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArizona is one of seven swing states that will decide the presidential election,\u201d Hobbs said during an MS NOW appearance Tuesday evening. \u201cIf Andy Biggs is governor, Arizona is the first swing state with an election denier in charge, and the time to stop that is not 2028. It is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s almost impossible to be a Republican officeholder without agreeing with the president on the 2020 election and the need to dramatically change election law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs long as Donald Trump, who has the bully pulpit and is the party leader \u2026 is talking about election integrity, it will be a top issue in GOP primaries,\u201d said one Arizona Republican strategist, granted anonymity to discuss the issue candidly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElection integrity measures are broadly popular, but the issue being front and center highlights divisions about Jan. 6th and wasn\u2019t a winning general election issue in 2022,\u201d the strategist continued. \u201cNot sure that general election voters will care much about that in 2026 with such a focus on affordability issues. We are about to find out!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump, for his part, has proven unwilling to move past the 2020 election even after winning a return to the White House in 2024. He has never acknowledged he lost that election, and in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/16\/trump-declassifies-election-documents-investigations-01002581\" target=\"_blank\">a primetime speech last Thursday<\/a>, he announced his administration would declassify documents he alleged show Chinese interference in the 2020 race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur elections were left vulnerable to being rigged and stolen, and the trust of the American people was lost,\u201d Trump said Thursday. \u201cThis cannot be allowed to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To make it out of a Republican primary in Arizona, there\u2019s one key litmus test: believing the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. Election deniers who played prominent roles in efforts to overturn the 2020 results triumphed in statewide Republican primaries Tuesday, from Rep. Andy Biggs for governor to state Rep. Alexander Kolodin for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}