On the night Mark Finchem won the Republican nomination for Arizona’s secretary of state, he didn’t have a victory party. Instead, he showed up at the party for GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
A few weeks after the primary, Finchem drove up alone outside a meeting of hundreds of party activists, dropped off some gear, and left without speaking.
In October, Finchem crashed a get-out-the-vote rally in Glendale with Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, to which he hadn’t been invited to speak. “I expected to be a spectator, not on the stage,” Finchem said in remarks that lasted less than a minute.
Finchem is running a virtually nonexistent campaign for statewide office, with little paid advertising, scant public events and even rarer media interviews. In his bid for a position that hasn’t historically been especially prominent, Finchem — frequently donning a cowboy hat and a “Sunday go-to-meeting tie” — appears to be betting that he can ride the coattails of flashier Republicans on the ballot, notably Lake and Senate candidate Blake Masters.
It’s a gamble that might pay off. A CNN poll conducted Sept. 26-Oct. 2 found 49 percent of likely voters supported Finchem while 45 percent supported Democrat Adrian Fontes, within the poll’s margin of sampling error.
How Trump’s election denialism took over the GOP
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Since Donald Trump first suggested the 2020 election might be stolen, Republicans have latched onto the claim. Here’s how it became a litmus test for the party. (Video: JM Rieger/The Washington Post)
The stakes are enormous, as it would elevate Finchem to second in line of succession for governor and hand him the power to upend how elections are run in a key swing state that decided the 2020 election and could tip the electoral college again in 2024. Finchem, who has repeatedly denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election results, has already said he would not have certified Biden’s win in 2020 and suggested he might use his power to reject Democratic victories in the future.
As secretary of state, Finchem could refuse to certify vote counting machines in use across the state, forcing counties to conduct hand counts that experts say would take longer and be less accurate. He could also rewrite the guidelines on where to place voting locations, side with litigants trying to restrict ballot access and work with allies in the state legislature to curtail early voting and voting by mail.
“These proposals that he has run on would lead to a system that is less efficient, more costly and less accurate — there’s a real danger that all those things could happen,” said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. “It is certainly my hope that if he were elected, once he got into the system, he would understand that the things he is suggesting are not feasible and could actually damage the electoral system.”
On Wednesday, Finchem spoke out in defense of people, sometimes wearing masks and tactical gear, who have been camped out near ballot drop boxes. Gates and other local law-enforcement officials have warned the self-appointed monitors against intimidating voters, and three voting rights groups have sought court orders against them. A Trump-appointed judge said Friday the watchers could continue; the groups have appealed.
“It’s not illegal to stand in a parking lot,” Finchem said in a live-streamed interview with Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward. “We are a constitutional carry state, so if people are made uncomfortable by somebody protecting themselves by carrying a firearm, an open carry—”
“Move to California,” Ward interjected.
Finchem further encouraged people to take photos or videos, including of voters’ license plates, and Ward said the party has attorneys ready to use the documentation in lawsuits.
Finchem, who did not respond to requests for comment for this article, has also suggested he won’t accept the results of his own race if he loses and will demand a hand recount.
“I’m not trying to re-litigate 2020,” Finchem said at a September campaign stop at an IHOP in Phoenix, addressing a tea party meeting of 17 people. “I’m trying to avoid the train wreck that 2020 was in 2024.”
Finchem belongs to a nationwide cohort of election deniers running to take power over election administration in pivotal states. The “America First Secretary of State Coalition” is chaired by Jim Marchant, the GOP secretary of state candidate in Nevada. At a rally in his state earlier this month featuring former president Donald Trump, Marchant was unambiguous about the group’s ultimate goal.
“When my coalition of secretary of state candidates around the country get elected,” Marchant said, “we’re going to fix the whole country and President Trump is going to be president again in 2024.”
Finchem’s ghost campaign resembles those of other far-right election deniers who won GOP primaries this year and have shown no signs of moderating in the general. Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano and Michigan secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo are also running campaigns that have struggled to raise money and reach out beyond their base. But while Mastriano and Karamo have consistently trailed in public surveys, Finchem remains in close contention.
Republican candidate Mark Finchem, left, and Democratic candidate Adrian Fontes prepare for the Arizona secretary of state debate. (Matt York/AP)
“When the wave hits, it sweeps up a lot,” said a Republican strategist working on the midterms who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the party’s prospects. “Institutional Republicans have largely stayed away from Finchem, but some of them still think he’s going to win. It’s the best of both worlds.”
A state lawmaker from southern Arizona, Finchem took extraordinary steps to try to overturn Trump’s narrow loss in 2020. After House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) refused his repeated requests to convene a special session of the state legislature to consider reversing Trump’s loss, Finchem held his own meeting in downtown Phoenix with Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and dozens of Trump allies.
A few weeks after the primary, Finchem drove up alone outside a meeting of hundreds of party activists, dropped off some gear, and left without speaking.
In October, Finchem crashed a get-out-the-vote rally in Glendale with Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, to which he hadn’t been invited to speak. “I expected to be a spectator, not on the stage,” Finchem said in remarks that lasted less than a minute.
Finchem is running a virtually nonexistent campaign for statewide office, with little paid advertising, scant public events and even rarer media interviews. In his bid for a position that hasn’t historically been especially prominent, Finchem — frequently donning a cowboy hat and a “Sunday go-to-meeting tie” — appears to be betting that he can ride the coattails of flashier Republicans on the ballot, notably Lake and Senate candidate Blake Masters.
It’s a gamble that might pay off. A CNN poll conducted Sept. 26-Oct. 2 found 49 percent of likely voters supported Finchem while 45 percent supported Democrat Adrian Fontes, within the poll’s margin of sampling error.
How Trump’s election denialism took over the GOP
8:15
Since Donald Trump first suggested the 2020 election might be stolen, Republicans have latched onto the claim. Here’s how it became a litmus test for the party. (Video: JM Rieger/The Washington Post)
The stakes are enormous, as it would elevate Finchem to second in line of succession for governor and hand him the power to upend how elections are run in a key swing state that decided the 2020 election and could tip the electoral college again in 2024. Finchem, who has repeatedly denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election results, has already said he would not have certified Biden’s win in 2020 and suggested he might use his power to reject Democratic victories in the future.
As secretary of state, Finchem could refuse to certify vote counting machines in use across the state, forcing counties to conduct hand counts that experts say would take longer and be less accurate. He could also rewrite the guidelines on where to place voting locations, side with litigants trying to restrict ballot access and work with allies in the state legislature to curtail early voting and voting by mail.
“These proposals that he has run on would lead to a system that is less efficient, more costly and less accurate — there’s a real danger that all those things could happen,” said Bill Gates, chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. “It is certainly my hope that if he were elected, once he got into the system, he would understand that the things he is suggesting are not feasible and could actually damage the electoral system.”
On Wednesday, Finchem spoke out in defense of people, sometimes wearing masks and tactical gear, who have been camped out near ballot drop boxes. Gates and other local law-enforcement officials have warned the self-appointed monitors against intimidating voters, and three voting rights groups have sought court orders against them. A Trump-appointed judge said Friday the watchers could continue; the groups have appealed.
“It’s not illegal to stand in a parking lot,” Finchem said in a live-streamed interview with Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward. “We are a constitutional carry state, so if people are made uncomfortable by somebody protecting themselves by carrying a firearm, an open carry—”
“Move to California,” Ward interjected.
Finchem further encouraged people to take photos or videos, including of voters’ license plates, and Ward said the party has attorneys ready to use the documentation in lawsuits.
Finchem, who did not respond to requests for comment for this article, has also suggested he won’t accept the results of his own race if he loses and will demand a hand recount.
“I’m not trying to re-litigate 2020,” Finchem said at a September campaign stop at an IHOP in Phoenix, addressing a tea party meeting of 17 people. “I’m trying to avoid the train wreck that 2020 was in 2024.”
Finchem belongs to a nationwide cohort of election deniers running to take power over election administration in pivotal states. The “America First Secretary of State Coalition” is chaired by Jim Marchant, the GOP secretary of state candidate in Nevada. At a rally in his state earlier this month featuring former president Donald Trump, Marchant was unambiguous about the group’s ultimate goal.
“When my coalition of secretary of state candidates around the country get elected,” Marchant said, “we’re going to fix the whole country and President Trump is going to be president again in 2024.”
Finchem’s ghost campaign resembles those of other far-right election deniers who won GOP primaries this year and have shown no signs of moderating in the general. Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano and Michigan secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo are also running campaigns that have struggled to raise money and reach out beyond their base. But while Mastriano and Karamo have consistently trailed in public surveys, Finchem remains in close contention.
Republican candidate Mark Finchem, left, and Democratic candidate Adrian Fontes prepare for the Arizona secretary of state debate. (Matt York/AP)
“When the wave hits, it sweeps up a lot,” said a Republican strategist working on the midterms who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the party’s prospects. “Institutional Republicans have largely stayed away from Finchem, but some of them still think he’s going to win. It’s the best of both worlds.”
A state lawmaker from southern Arizona, Finchem took extraordinary steps to try to overturn Trump’s narrow loss in 2020. After House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) refused his repeated requests to convene a special session of the state legislature to consider reversing Trump’s loss, Finchem held his own meeting in downtown Phoenix with Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and dozens of Trump allies.
