By Kira Lerner || Arizona Mirror
Joey Gilbert, a Reno-based attorney, lost the GOP primary for Nevada governor by roughly 26,000 votes in June, a margin of around 11 points. But he wasn’t ready to admit defeat.
Empowered by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud after the 2020 election, Gilbert refused to concede. He offered a $25,000 reward to anyone who could provide evidence of fraud, lodged a legal challenge and filed for a recount.
Gilbert’s efforts were not successful. He couldn’t come up with any legitimate evidence of fraud, instead bringing before the court an amateur mathematician and a “geometric, mathematical analysis” which he claimed proved that the results as announced were a “mathematical impossibility.” Gilbert alleged that voting machines must have switched votes.
“I don’t understand it, but I think that was the point,” said Nevada election lawyer Bradley Schrager, who is known for representing Democrats. “It was literal mathematical gibberish.”
A judge shot down the suit and sanctioned Gilbert, ordering him to pay the Republican nominee nearly $88,000 in court costs.
But election experts say that other candidates may not be deterred by the fact that challenges to the results of an election are rarely successful, and that solid evidence is needed for a court to take them seriously.
Across the country, Republicans following in Trump’s shadow who deny the results of the 2020 election are running for prominent statewide offices, including governor and secretary of state.
Many have already said they will not accept the results of their election if they lose. In some cases, the races may turn out closer than Gilbert’s, and prolonged, costly challenges could allow for the spread of misinformation.
“I am extremely concerned about the risk that candidates for all kinds of office will refuse to accept the results of their elections,” said Rachel Orey, associate director of the elections project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank that uses ideas from both parties. “The incentives are misaligned currently.”
I don’t understand it, but I think that was the point. It was literal mathematical gibberish.
Candidates know that denying results will generate publicity and help them fundraise for their party or for themselves, Orey explained. “The incentives are moving away from fostering trust in democratic culture and toward temporary political gain, which has extremely troublesome consequences for the future of U.S. democracy.”
Steve Simon, Minnesota’s Democratic secretary of state, is facing an election denier in November. Kim Crockett, the GOP nominee, has not committed to accepting the results of the election.
“It’s disqualifying for any office, but in particular for this office,” he said. “The office of secretary of state in Minnesota and in most states is about upholding the law when it comes to how we elect people to public office and it’s simply disqualifying for someone who wants to be in this office to thumb their nose at the law and preview an election denial campaign.”
Experts say they’re more worried about the consequences for democracy if election deniers win their races.
But, there is a strong possibility that candidates who still claim that the 2020 election was stolen will also claim that their own election was stolen from them, a troubling scenario that may not end in 2022.
Turning to denialism
It’s not a new phenomenon that, after losing an election, candidates try to see if there’s anything they can do to change the outcome. Recounts and lawsuits are all part of the electoral process.
But Schrager explained that what has changed in recent years is a symptom of how politics in the U.S. have become extremely polarized. Certain candidates aren’t able to live in a world where the other party has won an election. Instead of losing an election and then directing their energy to how to turn out the vote in the next election, candidates are instead turning to denialism.
“The election denier phenomenon is really just a symptom of this feeling,” Schrager said. “They cannot believe that this happened, it can’t have happened, their reality won’t permit them to live in that world, therefore it must not have happened.”
Kari Lake, Arizona’s GOP nominee for governor, made waves this month when she refused to say if she would accept the election results if she loses. In an interview on CNN, host Dana Bash asked three times if she would accept the election’s outcome.
“I’m going to win the election, and I will accept that result,” Lake said.
