Many GOP candidates still echo Trump's 2020 claims.
uncertain
candidates → echo → claims
Lots of voters want to move on
President Trump is still talking about the 2020 election — even as early voting is underway in this midterm cycle and the Republican majorities in Congress are at risk.
asserted
majorities → want → risk
And while many Republican candidates, even in some critical tossup races, still back the president's baseless claims about election integrity, some GOP voters say they are ready to move on.
uncertain
they → back → integrity
In Georgia, Rep. Mike Collins, the Republican nominee for Senate, launched his first congressional campaign a few months after Trump pressed Georgia's secretary of state to find enough votes to reverse his 2020 loss.
asserted
Trump → launch → loss
In one campaign ad from that race, Collins falsely claimed that Trump won Georgia and said, "Georgians are tired of weak-kneed, spineless politicians who won't fight for Trump, get to the bottom of 2020 and fix our elections."
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who → claim → elections
The spot ended with Collins firing a long gun into a bin with a "voting machine" label.
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Collins → end → label
Now as Collins runs for Senate, he has reiterated his position that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
asserted
election → run → Trump
He has also expressed support for compensating some people prosecuted for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election.
asserted
He → express → election
"It bothers me a lot," said Lynn, a lifelong Republican voter in Georgia, who asked NPR to publish only her first name for fear of being ostracized by friends and family for her views.
asserted
who → bother → views
"It worries me for him to get elected.
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him → worry → me
It concerns me any time someone gets pulled into those ridiculous looking-back discussions."
At a farmers market in Alpharetta, a tony suburb outside of Atlanta, Lynn said she could have easily voted for the other two Republicans who ran in the primary.
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who → concern → primary
Now she has not ruled out voting for Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, in part because of Collins' positions on the 2020 election.
asserted
she → rule → election
The Collins campaign did not respond to NPR's request for comment.
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campaign → respond → comment
Finishing a plate of grits at the farmers market, voter Austin Sapp said he regularly votes for Republican candidates, believes election fraud does happen, and supports Trump's push to pass a strict voter ID law through Congress.
asserted
fraud → finish → Congress
He also wishes the president would move on from relitigating 2020.
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president → wish → ?
"It is what it is," Sapp said.
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Sapp → say → ?
"He lost, then he won [in 2024].
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he → lose → 2024
Beating a dead horse serves no purpose.
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Beating → beat → purpose
What are you going to do for me?"
asserted
you → go → me
"Regular humans have given this up"
asserted
humans → give → this
Just 1% of voters in a September New York Times-Siena College poll said election integrity is the top issue deciding their vote this November.
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integrity → say → vote
"It's really big with the media and the far edges of both parties," said Gabe Sterling, a veteran official with the Georgia secretary of state's office.
asserted
Sterling → say → office
"Regular humans have given this up a long time ago.
asserted
humans → give → this
After the 2020 election, Sterling was one of the most visible officials disputing Trump's false claims.
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Sterling → dispute → claims
Weeks before Jan. 6, he presciently warned people could get hurt.
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people → warn → Jan.
He says that feels far from the climate now.
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that → say → climate
Sterling says while resurfacing claims about fraud can still be an effective fundraising tool, the 2020 obsession is mostly alive among die-hard activists only.
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obsession → say → activists
Some of those activists now hold influential positions on state and local election boards.
asserted
Some → hold → boards
They also vote reliably in Republican primaries.
asserted
They → vote → primaries
Sterling spoke with hundreds of GOP primary voters as he ran for secretary of state this year.
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he → speak → state
He stood firm in his defense of Georgia's elections and felt like he did sway people.
asserted
he → stand → people
It was not enough to win a primary.
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It → win → primary
"I would say things like, 'Georgia has the cleanest voter list in America,'" Sterling said.
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Sterling → say → America
"We would get some boos and hisses, but I would just keep pounding away, explaining the data and explaining what happened."
asserted
what → get → data
Why some candidates still back Trump's claims
In primaries elsewhere, some onetime critics of Trump's claims have come to embrace them.
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critics → back → them
In Michigan, GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers, a former congressman who chaired the House Intelligence Committee, once called Trump's Georgia pressure campaign "more gangster than presidential," and said Trump deserved blame for the violence on Jan. 6.
But while making an unsuccessful 2024 Senate bid, in an interview with the Detroit Free Press editorial board, Rogers refused to answer who won the presidential contest in 2020.
asserted
who → chair → 2020
Then at a local Republican meeting last fall, Rogers claimed the Senate seat was stolen from him, according to a video of the meeting obtained by NPR.
uncertain
seat → claim → NPR
"Now there were some ballots that showed up at 5:30, I wish I were kidding, in a van, and that swung the election on us, and it happened to be here in Detroit," Rogers said at the time.
And after Trump gave a primetime Oval Office address this summer resurrecting debunked claims about election vulnerabilities, Rogers thanked him on social media.
uncertain
Rogers → be → media
Rogers' 2026 Senate campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
asserted
campaign → respond → comment
Michigan Republican strategist Jason Roe, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, says many candidates still see echoing Trump's claims as a condition for his support.
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candidates → say → support
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
