Jim Lamon/Cronkite News
By Richard Ruelas | Arizona Republic
A U.S. Senate candidate who was one of 11 Arizona Republicans who signed a document falsely claiming he was authorized to cast the state’s electoral votes for President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday that the document was only a contingency plan.
Jim Lamon, who signed the document making the false claim on Dec. 14, 2020, said he understood he was only asserting himself as one of Arizona’s official electors in case the results were decertified.
“The Republican electors put forth a valid document that said, in the event that the election certification was overturned, there would be no excuse not to recognize those electors,” Lamon said during an interview that aired Sunday on KTVK-TV’s “Politics Unplugged” program.
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The document Lamon signed contained no language that explained it was a backup plan.
Rather, the document described Lamon and the other 10 signees as the “duly elected and qualified electors” from Arizona.
They were not.
Joe Biden carried Arizona. Gov. Doug Ducey certified the results in late November. Eleven Democrats met on Dec. 14, 2020, at the Phoenix Convention Center to sign the official Electoral College votes from Arizona that would be counted at a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
That same day, the 11 Republican electors, who were all listed on the 2020 ballot as those who would cast their vote for Trump should he win, met at the Arizona Republican Party headquarters.
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That document was sent by registered mail to the U.S. Senate and the National Archives.
Lamon’s campaign did not return a request for an interview from the Republic sent Sunday night.
