Republican candidates for attorney general in several states, including key battlegrounds, have repeatedly voiced the belief that the 2020 election was stolen, according to a WIRED review. Some have said they would revisit the 2020 results if elected, and all would be positioned to influence the 2028 presidential contest.
The role of attorney general in running and protecting elections varies by state. In general, though, the officeholder is the state's chief legal officer and is expected to serve as a check on both the governor and the federal government. That function has drawn attention in recent months as attorneys general nationwide have pushed back on the Trump administration's efforts to take control of elections, seize ballots and obtain voter rolls containing sensitive personal information. Christina Beeler, senior counsel for the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, told WIRED that anyone in the job must be dedicated to upholding the rule of law and the results of elections.
In Arizona, state Senator Warren Petersen was among the loudest backers of Donald Trump's baseless claim that the 2020 vote was stolen. He signed a document asking Congress to accept 11 alternate electoral votes for Trump and later signed another urging the US Senate to reject Arizona's slate of electors. Petersen also helped secure approval for the Cyber Ninjas audit in Maricopa County, which found that Joe Biden had won by more votes than first counted and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Earlier this year, he complied with a grand jury subpoena and gave the FBI files on that audit. Campaigning in July, he called for expanding the attorney general's Election Integrity Unit. Polls show him tied with Democrat Kris Mayes.
Georgia's Republican nominee, Brian Strickland, shared a press release in 2020 as a state senator that urged an investigation into alleged "fraudulent activities," a forensic audit and new voting laws. After FBI agents raided Fulton County's election offices this year and seized 2020 ballots, he described the move as a "transparency" measure and wrote on X that "Fulton County can't run elections." An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll published this week shows him tied with Democrat Tanya Miller.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who won the post in 2022, is seeking reelection in November. A longtime promoter of unfounded voter fraud claims, he served as secretary of state from 2011 to 2019 and asserted that roughly 18,000 noncitizens were on the voter rolls, relying on non-peer-reviewed research. Trump named him to a short-lived election integrity commission that found no evidence of widespread fraud. After 2020, Kobach advised Texas's effort to overturn the results and assisted a Michigan canvassing board member who tried to rescind her certification vote. In 2022 he was announced as a headliner at a Kansas rally with MyPillow founder Mike Lindell. Recent polling suggests a tight race against Democrat Chris Mann.
In Michigan, Eaton County prosecutor Doug Lloyd won the Republican nomination. The field once included Matt DePerno, who faces felony charges over possession of a voting machine and conspiracy after the 2020 election and has pleaded not guilty. Lloyd is not typically labeled an election denier and has described himself as more moderate than Democrat Eli Savit. Even so, he told the MI True Red podcast that the attorney general could use investigators or the Michigan State Police to look again at concerns about 2020. "I want to take those things in," he said. Polling shows the two tied.
Trump has endorsed Adriana Guzmán Fralick for Nevada attorney general. She has pledged to push a state version of the SAVE Act, which would require registrants to produce documents such as a passport or birth certificate, which tens of millions of Americans lack. Experts have said the federal bill would disenfranchise millions of voters. Guzmán Fralick has also promoted an endorsement from Joey Gilbert, a boxer turned MAGA influencer known for Covid-19 conspiracy theories, who calls her a friend. Gilbert was filmed near Alex Jones outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021, chanting "1776," though he did not enter the building. Recent polling has her trailing Democrat Nicole Cannizzaro by 8 points.
