53 Candidates Questioning 2020 Results Seek Election Oversight Roles in 23 States

Candidates who have denied election results are running for offices with direct roles in certifying future elections in 23 states, including five presidential swing states, according to a new analysis by States United Action. The analysis, shared exclusively with NPR ahead of its release, found at least 53 such candidates vying for statewide positions in the 2026 midterm cycle.

These positions include secretary of state, governor, or attorney general in 39 states holding elections this year for roles that interact with elections.

States United Action has been tracking candidate positions on the validity of election results since 2022. The group defines election-denying candidates as those meeting at least one of five criteria, such as falsely claiming President Trump was the rightful winner in 2020 or supporting efforts to undermine results after audits and legal challenges were completed.

In Georgia, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger declined President Trump's request to find 11,780 votes in 2020.

Georgia will elect a new secretary of state and governor in 2026, and candidates who have denied election results are currently in the running there. In Michigan, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had armed protesters descend on her home in the weeks after the 2020 voting ended.

Michigan will also elect a new secretary of state and governor in 2026, with candidates who deny election results in the race.

In Arizona, candidates who deny election results are running for secretary of state, governor, and attorney general in 2026. In 2020, Arizona's Republican governor Doug Ducey faced pressure from President Trump to interfere in the certification process but declined to do so. Andy Biggs is the front-runner for the GOP nomination for governor in Arizona in 2026.

U.S. House, Andy Biggs voted not to certify the 2020 election results and made a call to a key state lawmaker in 2020 to investigate other ways to interfere with the election certification process. Rep.

Andy Biggs spoke at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix on April 17, 2026. S. House.

After the 2022 midterms, Republican secretary of state candidates who denied the 2020 election results underperformed other GOP candidates in competitive states, according to an NPR analysis. A States United analysis of the 2022 election estimated the penalty for election denial to be roughly 3 percentage points.

She added that election denial is not something American voters like, and candidates who have run on that platform have paid a real price in the past.

Lydgate said, 'We've watched these state officials on both sides of the aisle stand up and push back when Trump has tried to interfere with elections and election results in the past. We know that they will do that again. Brendan Fischer, who leads research into efforts to undermine elections at the Campaign Legal Center, said the election denier movement still represents a tiny minority of the country but is an energized force within Republican politics.

He noted it is an organized interest group that Republican candidates and lawmakers need to be at least somewhat responsive to.