The Real Threat in November

Conspiracy theorists are running our elections

Tomorrow I’m going to post a piece about Donald’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention (hint: shocking but not surprising), as well as Vice President Kamala Harris’ response. In the wake of a Rolling Stone’s expose on the infiltration of election deniers and conspiracy theorists into county elections, however, I wanted to make sure this doesn’t get lost in constant churn of the craziest election season I’ve ever experienced. There is so much going on and this issue will potentially be the backdrop against which everything else unfolds not just leading up to, but, potentially, after the election as well.

On Tuesday night, Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer was defeated in a Republican primary. Richer is one of a handful of courageous Republicans who stood up against Donald’s coup attempt, and his opponent, Justin Heap, was recruited to run by an indicted fake elector. 

While it’s still possible is to stop Heap, dozens of other election deniers and loyalists to my uncle are already in a position to cause chaos. We need to have our eyes open about what’s coming in November. 

As Rolling Stone magazine reported:

“In the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, Rolling Stone and American Doom identified at least 70 pro-Trump election conspiracists currently working as county election officials who have questioned the validity of elections or delayed or refused to certify results. At least 22 of these county election officials have refused or delayed certification in recent years.”

Since 2020, Republicans have refused to certify the results in 25 elections.

Democratic elections lawyer Marc Elias told the magazine that he expects to see “mass refusals” to certify the election results this November, saying “everything we are seeing about this election is that the other side is more organized, more ruthless, and more prepared.”

When Donald and his accomplices started trying to rewrite the history of both the 2020 election and the January 6^thinsurrection, it became obvious that they weren’t simply trying to whitewash their part in it; they were planning the ways in which they were going to try again. 

What has seriously raised the stakes is the recent decision by the corrupt illegitimate super-majority of the United States Supreme Court on presidential immunity which made clear that Donald wouldn’t face any more consequences for attempting an auto-coup than he did on January 6^th.

Rolling Stone talked to Lizzie Ulmer, a senior vice president at the States United Democracy Center, which tracks election deniers at the state and national levels. Ulmer pointe out that the people trying to hijack our democracy are focused on election certification which, if you remember, was a strategy in the run up to the official count of the Electoral College ballots on January 6^th.

“From the influence of calling for hand counts of ballots, to the pressure to not certify an election … it’s all connected to this broader effort to change the rules, so that, if needed, election deniers can change the results of an election,” Ulmer said. “It makes sense that certification has become one of the tactics used by the election-denier movement to throw sand into the gears of running a free, fair and smooth election.”

Neither Donald nor his team has been shy about what they’re planning. During an interview with Politico at the Republican convention in Milwaukee, Donald’s top campaign aide Chris LaCivita made clear that they are looking past Election Day to secure a victory.

“It’s not over until he puts his hand on the Bible and takes the oath,” LaCivita said. “It’s not over until then. It’s not over on Election Day, it’s over on Inauguration Day, ‘cause I wouldn’t put anything past anybody.” 

But as unnerving as this all is, there are reasons to be hopeful.

First, we’re onto them. We know what they’re capable of, and we know that their coup didn’t fail—it’s still ongoing. We know they’ll stop at nothing and we have to expect the worst for them and plan accordingly. Elias and his team are in this fight every single day, and they will be ready come November. 

Second, we have a candidate in Vice President Kamala Harris who could potentially open up a lead on Donald that renders his efforts at cheating moot. If we win in a landslide, their cheating will be all the more obvious and unlikely to prevail. That means it’s up to us to work our tails off to make sure Democrats are elected up and down the ballot.

This is the most exciting and potentially treacherous time in modern American politics, and I’m thrilled by the momentum we are seeing from Harris’s campaign. But we can’t forget for one second that the same forces who tried to end our democracy four years ago are still very hard at work. Let’s maintain the joy and the energy and the enthusiasm, but let’s keep an eye on what we’re up against, too.