Election deniers lose races for governor in key US swing states

State leaders can hold significant sway over election administration, with implications for the 2028 presidential race.

Republican Congressman Andy Biggs, who ran for governor of Arizona, speaks at a July campaign event in Gilbert, Arizona [Ross D Franklin/AP Photo]

After Democrats’ stunning blowout in the United States midterm elections , five Republican election deniers have come up short in their races to become governor in top battleground states.

Congressman Andy Biggs in Arizona, Congressman John James in Michigan, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity in Pennsylvania and Congressman Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin all lost their gubernatorial races on Tuesday.

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So too did billionaire Rick Jackson of Georgia, a state that was central to President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential results.

All five candidates had either cast doubt on or voted to block Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson attends a campaign rally in Atlanta [File: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images via AFP]

Jackson, for instance, had called Biden’s win “totally ridiculous” and criticised Georgia state officials for not complying with Trump’s demands to “find” extra votes.

“Our people really let us down,” Jackson said when he was pressed on the 2020 election during a campaign event earlier this year.

In January 2021, Biggs and Tiffany voted to overturn the 2020 results as members of the US House of Representatives.

Both lawmakers also signed on to a lawsuit that sought to invalidate results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all states that Biden won in that year’s contentious presidential race.

James was not in Congress when it came time to certify the 2020 election results. He had unsuccessfully run for the US Senate during that election cycle. He later made a successful bid for the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterms.

That year, he acknowledged Biden’s victory. But he reversed his position in June, when he told podcaster Benny Johnson that the 2020 election was “rigged and manipulated”.

Republican gubernatorial candidate John James speaks during a campaign event in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on Saturday [File: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP]

Garrity, who was elected to her current position in 2020, was among the right-wing politicians to campaign with Trump to reverse his election defeat.

She appeared at a rally in Pennsylvania on January 5, 2021, to call on state lawmakers to decertify the 2020 results. A day later, Trump supporters would storm the US Capitol, echoing the Republican leader’s claims of voter fraud.

Tiffany, Garrity and Jackson have since released statements or clarified their previous actions regarding the 2020 election and acknowledged that Biden won. Biggs and James, however, have not.

Al Jazeera has reached out to both of their offices for comment but has not yet heard back.

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity speaks during a news conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania [File: Marc Levy/AP Photo]

Tuesday’s midterm results are likely to have significant implications for the next presidential race in 2028.

Trump is entering the final two years of his lame-duck second term, and under the US Constitution, he is ineligible for re-election. It is unclear who will succeed him as the Republican standard-bearer.

Battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have all vacillated between presidential nominees of both parties in recent elections.

They will play critical roles in 2028, as the US looks to determine its next leader.

In some US states, governors play a major role in issues like voting access, election administration and efforts to redraw congressional maps.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany talks to supporters during a July 29 campaign event in Kenosha, Wisconsin [File: Nam Y Huh/AP Photo]

Over the past year and a half, Trump has sought to rally state leaders to redesign congressional maps to help Republicans get elected.

Some Democratic-led states, notably California, under Governor Gavin Newsom, have responded with their own efforts at gerrymandering.

But it is unclear whether the push for redistricting will retain its momentum after Tuesday’s midterm results.

Already, Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican who was prevented by term limits from running in this midterm cycle, said on Wednesday that he would not call a special session of the state’s legislature to redraw the state’s congressional maps before his Democratic successor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, is sworn in.

Trump, after years of casting doubt on US elections, told The New York Times on Tuesday night that he was “absolutely willing” to accept the midterm results.

He also pledged to engage with the Democratic Party, which handily retook control of both chambers of the US Congress.

“We’ll, you know, look forward to working with them,” Trump said of the Democrats. “We’ll probably work something out.”

州领导人对选举管理拥有重大影响力，这可能对 2028 年总统大选产生影响。

曾竞选亚利桑那州州长的共和党众议员安迪·比格斯在7月于亚利桑那州吉尔伯特举行的一次竞选活动上发表讲话。[罗斯·D·富兰克林/美联社照片]

在美国中期选举中，民主党取得了惊人的胜利，五名共和党选举结果否认者在关键摇摆州的州长竞选中均告失败。

周二，亚利桑那州众议员安迪·比格斯、密歇根州众议员约翰·詹姆斯、宾夕法尼亚州州财政部长斯泰西·加里蒂和威斯康星州众议员汤姆·蒂芙尼均在州长竞选中落败。

三位民主党领导人盛赞中期选举成功（名单1/3）

美国民主社会主义者在中期选举中取得创纪录的胜利（共3个名单中的第2个）

列表 3（共 3 条）特朗普将中期选举失利归咎于伊朗战争

佐治亚州的亿万富翁里克·杰克逊也是如此，佐治亚州是唐纳德·特朗普总统推翻 2020 年总统选举结果的关键州。

这五位候选人都曾对乔·拜登在 2020 年大选中战胜特朗普表示过质疑，或者投票阻止了拜登的胜利。

共和党州长候选人里克·杰克逊在亚特兰大参加竞选集会 [图片来源：Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images via AFP]

例如，杰克逊称拜登的胜利“完全荒谬”，并批评佐治亚州官员没有遵守特朗普“寻找”额外选票的要求。

“我们的人民真的让我们失望了，”杰克逊在今年早些时候的一次竞选活动中被问及 2020 年大选时说道。

2021 年 1 月，比格斯和蒂芙尼作为美国众议院议员投票推翻了 2020 年的选举结果。

这两位议员还签署了一项诉讼，试图使佐治亚州、密歇根州、宾夕法尼亚州和威斯康星州的选举结果无效，而拜登在当年竞争激烈的总统选举中赢得了这四个州。

詹姆斯在2020年大选结果认证时并不在国会任职。他曾在那次选举中竞选美国参议员，但未能成功。后来，他在2022年中期选举中成功当选众议员。

那一年，他承认拜登胜选。但到了6月，他改变了立场，告诉播客主持人本尼·约翰逊，2020年大选是“被操纵和篡改的”。

周六，共和党州长候选人约翰·詹姆斯在密歇根州斯特灵海茨市的一次竞选活动中发表讲话。[图片：Jeff Kowalsky/AFP]

加里蒂于 2020 年当选现任职位，她是与特朗普一起竞选以扭转其选举失败的右翼政治家之一。

2021年1月5日，她出现在宾夕法尼亚州的一次集会上，呼吁该州议员取消2020年大选的选举结果。一天后，特朗普的支持者冲击了美国国会大厦，呼应了这位共和党领导人关于选民舞弊的说法。

蒂芙尼、加里蒂和杰克逊随后发表声明或澄清了他们之前关于2020年大选的言论，并承认拜登获胜。然而，比格斯和詹姆斯尚未发表声明或澄清。

半岛电视台已联系双方办公室寻求置评，但尚未收到回复。

宾夕法尼亚州财政部长斯泰西·加里蒂在宾夕法尼亚州哈里斯堡举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。[图片：Marc Levy/AP Photo]

周二的中期选举结果可能会对2028年的下一届总统大选产生重大影响。

特朗普即将进入其跛脚鸭第二个任期的最后两年，根据美国宪法，他已无资格连任。目前尚不清楚谁将接替他成为共和党总统候选人。

在最近的选举中，亚利桑那州、佐治亚州、密歇根州、宾夕法尼亚州和威斯康星州等关键摇摆州的总统候选人都在两党之间摇摆不定。

他们将在 2028 年发挥关键作用，因为美国将在此确定下一任领导人。

在美国的一些州，州长在投票权、选举管理和重新划分国会选区等问题上发挥着重要作用。

7月29日，共和党州长候选人汤姆·蒂芙尼在威斯康星州基诺沙市的一次竞选活动中与支持者交谈。[图片：Nam Y Huh/AP Photo]

在过去一年半的时间里，特朗普一直试图拉拢各州领导人重新设计国会选区地图，以帮助共和党人赢得选举。

一些民主党领导的州，特别是加州，在州长加文·纽森的领导下，也采取了选区划分不公的措施作为回应。

但周二的中期选举结果公布后，重新划分选区的呼声是否会继续高涨，目前尚不明朗。

佐治亚州州长布莱恩·坎普（共和党人，因任期限制无法参加本次中期选举）周三表示，在他的民主党继任者凯莎·兰斯·博顿斯宣誓就职之前，他不会召开州立法机构特别会议来重新划分该州的国会选区。

多年来一直质疑美国大选结果的特朗普，周二晚间告诉《纽约时报》，他“绝对愿意”接受中期选举结果。

他还承诺与民主党进行接触，民主党轻松地重新掌控了美国国会两院。

“我们期待与他们合作，”特朗普谈到民主党人时说。“我们或许能找到解决办法。”