The 2022 midterm elections saw an unprecedented number of Republican candidates deny or question the results of the last presidential election, spread false conspiracy theories about the nation’s voting systems and, in many cases, question the legitimacy of American democracy itself.
While most of them won, almost all of the leading candidates lost in what was seen as a national rebuke of the movement.
But the loss didn’t seem to deter many of them.
Six months later, many are considering returning to the campaign trail or continuing to gain popularity and power in conservative circles.
“They may have lost an election, but they won a platform,” said Joanna Lydgate, CEO of States United Action, a nonpartisan group that advocates for protecting American elections and tracks election detractors. “We’re starting to see some of these defeated candidates looking for power outside of government, and they’re still pushing lies and conspiracy theories about the election. So we have to stay vigilant.”
Here’s a rundown of what some of the most prominent election-denying candidates have been up to since the midterm elections:
