Dear Peter,

We’re now more than halfway through the primary election season. As we’ve reported in the past, radical candidates—those who embrace election lies, spread unfounded conspiracy theories, advocate political violence, and more—have sustained both victories and defeats in their races. But what if they don’t acknowledge their defeats?

On Jan. 6, 2021, the nation witnessed the results when a president refused to accept that he lost an election—chaos. What if the same thing happens across the nation, and losing candidates at every level simply deny they lost…and their supporters go along with them? Perhaps not surprisingly, that scenario is playing out around the country:

COLORADO: Tina Peters was defeated in the GOP primary for Colorado secretary of state. As the county clerk from Mesa County, Peters previously leaked voter data in an attempt to prove fraud conspiracies about the 2020 election, leading to an indictment by a grand jury. This week, her Republican opponent, Pam Anderson, won with 44.7% of the vote vs. Peters’ 26.5%. But Saja Hindi of the Denver Post reports: “[Peters] says the numbers are flipped, and the results are fraudulent. ‘It’s not over,’ she said.”

GEORGIA: Conspiracy theorist Kandiss Taylor, who campaigned for governor of Georgia on a platform of ridding the state’s government of “Satanic influence,” earned just 3.4% of the vote in the GOP primary on May 24. Taylor is claiming that the election results are false—and she has even gone as far as asking Georgians to sign notarized affidavits declaring that they voted for her. “I wanted y’all to know that I do not concede. I do not,” she said. “And if the people who did this and cheated are watching, I do not concede.”

ILLINOIS: Bobby Piton lost the GOP primary for U.S. Senate earlier this week, but he seems to be unaware of that fact. Despite earning just 9% of the vote, he tweeted yesterday, “I am NOT conceding my U.S. Senate race primary…stay tuned…” He added, “It appears as though the machines flipped results between different candidates differently in each voting jurisdiction…” If that sounds delusional, consider this: Piton is heavily involved in QAnon and has predicted the return of JFK. He has also claimed that the 2020 presidential election was rife with massive fraud.

NEVADA: A Republican gubernatorial candidate in Nevada, Joey Gilbert, is also refusing to concede, despite losing his primary race on June 14. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo won with just over 38% of the vote vs. Gilbert’s 27%. Of course, Gilbert is alleging widespread fraud. A statement published by his campaign last week doubled down on claims he made on election night, when he wrote on Facebook, “I smell a lawsuit,” and that he “will concede nothing.”

It’s all too easy to dismiss these candidates’ ridiculous claims as sour grapes or plain lunacy. But every false claim of election fraud chips further and further away at voters’ trust in our electoral system. That means fewer Americans are likely to participate if they feel their vote doesn’t matter. It means diminished respect for elected officials, whom voters may believe were illegitimately seated. And it means our political environment only grows more hostile and dysfunctional.

It is the mission of the Renew America Movement to build a national cross-partisan coalition that stands up for the principles that make our nation strong. We shine a light on radicalism and counter it with a unifying and constructive message. Please click here to support our work.

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