Election skeptics roil GOP contests for secretary of state in Georgia, other states

jody hice
Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., speaks at a news conference held by members of the House Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 29, 2021, to complain about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. and masking policies. Across the U.S., eight Republicans are running for re-election as their state’s chief election official but find themselves facing primary challenges from candidates who repeat the false claim that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election or who make unverified claims of widespread voter fraud. Those claims have wide appeal within the Republican base, so the incumbents have begun shape-shifting as they try to get through their party primaries.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose was clear in the months after the 2020 presidential election.

“Elections are run better and more honestly than really I think they ever have been,” he said in response to conspiracy theories being floated about the election. Months later, he said in an interview what has proved true in state after state – that voter fraud is rare.

Fast forward to 2022, when Republican secretaries of state face a delicate test with voters: Touting their work running clean elections while somehow not alienating GOP voters who believe the false claims of fraud fueled by former President Donald Trump and his allies.