In most states, the Secretary of State oversees election administration, and there are a handful of competitive races for this office in 2022, including some featuring candidates who have previously cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Here is a look at some of those most pivotal races:
In Arizona, Democrat Adrian Fontes, the former Maricopa County Recorder, is running against Republican state Rep. Mark Finchem, who has falsely claimed Trump won the 2020 election and supported bills to decertify some counties’ election results. They are running to replace Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor.
Fontes has had support on the airwaves from outside Democratic groups, including iVote and the independent expenditure arm of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State.
In Michigan, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is up for re-election. She faces Republican Kristina Karamo, a community college professor who has cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election. Karamo is endorsed by Trump, but has struggled to raise money. Benson and outside groups backing her have spent over $6 million on the airwaves promoting her campaign.
In Minnesota, Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon is up for re-election and he’s been backed by multiple Democratic groups, including iVote and the independent expenditure arm of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State. So far, Simon and outside groups have spent over $3 million on the airwaves for Simon. He faces Republican Kim Crockett, an attorney who recently said when asked whether she trusted the state’s 2020 presidential result “I don’t think we’ll ever know precisely what happened.” Trump recently endorsed her.
In Nevada, Democratic lawyer Cisco Aguilar is running against former Republican Assemblyman Jim Marchant, a candidate who called Biden’s 2020 win “almost statistically impossible.” Aguilar has been backed by outside Democratic groups, while there has been no Republican spending on the airwaves in this race. But, Trump invited Marchant to campaign with him at a rally in Nevada earlier this year.
