REPORT UPDATE: States United Action Releases April Data on Election Deniers Running for Statewide Offices that Run, Oversee, and Protect Our Elections 

Published: 4.6.22

Washington, D.C. — States United Action today released updated data for its Replacing the Refs tool, which tracks the trend of candidates who deny the results of the 2020 election (Election Deniers) running for the key statewide offices that run, oversee, and protect our elections—governor, secretary of state, and attorney general—in 2022. The April update indicates that there are now nine states with Election Deniers running for all three top statewide positions.

As of April 4, 2022, in two out of three governor and secretary of state contests, there is an Election Denier running. This is true for one out of three attorney general contests as well. Other key data updates:

• Races for all three statewide positions include at least one Election Denier in nine states (AL, AZ, CA, GA, IL, KS, MI, MN, WI); two states—Georgia and Wisconsin—were added in the April update.
• At least 53 Election Deniers are running for Governor in 25 states.
• At least 13 Election Deniers are running for Attorney General in 13 states.
• At least 23 Election Deniers are running for Secretary of State in 19 states.

“Replacing the refs—the people who administer our elections—is a key pillar of the anti-democracy playbook. Voters across the political spectrum should be paying attention to who these Election Deniers are, where they are running, and the seriousness of their false claims about the 2020 election results,” said Thania Sanchez, Senior Vice President of Research and Policy Development at States United Action. “States United will continue to refresh this information in our tracker ahead of the primaries and throughout the election cycle. It’s never been more important for voters to be informed and to elect leaders from both sides of the aisle who will uphold the will of the American people.”

A recent NBC News poll indicated that, among registered voters, one of the least popular candidate qualities was saying former President Trump won the 2020 presidential election. States United Action is updating the Replacing the Refs tracker, first released February 1, each month throughout this election cycle to account for state filing deadlines, candidate announcements, candidate dropouts, and primary results.

Learn more about the anti-democracy playbook and the election subversion trend in the states here.

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About States United Action

States United Action is a nonpartisan section 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization with a mission to protect our elections and our democracy. States United Action advocates for policies that protect election integrity, hold democracy violators accountable, and prevent political violence that threatens to undermine the will of the American people, and amplifies the voices of state leaders and law enforcement leaders who share these values.