Dem 50
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Ties 1
GOP 49
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Most of Trump's Picks for Secretary of State Lost

Democracy was on the ballot in a number of states and generally won. Specifically, Trump-aligned candidates were running for secretary of state in a number of states, more-or-less promising to "find" as many votes as Trump needed in 2024. That could be the end of democracy in America. However, the ploy didn't work. Most of them lost. Here is the scorecard for the SoS candidates Trump endorsed. The winners are shown in boldface and incumbents are marked with an asterisk:

State Democrat Republican
Arizona Adrian Fontes Mark Finchem
Indiana Destiny Wells Diego Morales
Michigan Jocelyn Benson* Kristina Karamo
Minnesota Steve Simon* Kim Crockett
Nevada Cisco Aguilar Jim Marchant
New Mexico Maggie Oliver* Audrey Trujillo
Ohio Chelsea Clark Frank LaRose*
Wyoming (no candidate) Chuck Gray

A couple of notes are in order here. While Trump endorsed Frank LaRose in Ohio, LaRose was an incumbent and wasn't involved in any scandals. A reasonably well-known and popular Republican incumbent in a state as red as Ohio can win reelection easily, even without Trump's help. (see: DeWine, Gov. Mike). So don't count this as a win for Trump.

Trump also endorsed Chuck Gray in Wyoming. However, since the Democrats didn't even bother to field a candidate, Trump doesn't get a lot of credit for Gray's big win. Also, Wyoming Republicans don't trust Gray. There has been talk in the Republican-dominated state legislature of passing a law stripping the secretary of state of much of his power over elections and vesting it with a new elections board consisting of all five statewide elected officials.

Finally, Trump endorsed then-Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) for secretary of state in Georgia. Hice lost the primary to Brad Raffensperger (R), who went on to win the general election. In short, Trump's only real win for secretary of state was in Indiana, and even there, the state is so red that Diego Morales probably could have won under his own power without Trump's endorsement. (V)



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