'Be afraid': Arizona columnist begs voters to reject far-right conspiracy theorist running for elections chief

On Wednesday, writing for The Arizona Republic, columnist Laurie Roberts implored Arizona voters to wake up the to dangers if far-right conspiracy theorist state Rep. Mark Finchem is nominated by Republicans for Secretary of State.

The results in Tuesday night's primary in Nevada, Roberts wrote, should in particular be a wake-up call — as someone very similar won the GOP nomination there.

"The state of Nevada sent Arizona voters — the ones who reject the delusion that the 2020 election was rigged — a chilling message on Tuesday," wrote Roberts. "Jim Marchant, the race’s biggest believer in the Big Lie, cruised to victory in a seven-way Republican primary for secretary of state, a job that would put him in charge of the 2024 elections in a swing state that President Joe Biden narrowly won. Sound familiar? Change former Nevada Rep. Marchant’s state and he becomes … Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley."

Finchem, according to previous reports, was in contact with former President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows after the 2020 election, urging him to get the Department of Homeland Security to seize Arizona voting machines and turn them over to a company called CyTech to do a "full spectrum audit" of the results. He has also called for "decertifying" the election based on the controversial Cyber Ninjas audit of Maricopa County — despite the fact that that audit didn't actually find any fraud — and claims he would never have certified Biden's win in the first place if he were in power. And he has given a speech at a QAnon conference.

READ: Ginni Thomas emailed with ‘coup memo’ author John Eastman — and Jan. 6 committee has the receipts: report

Ironically for someone fixated on election fraud conspiracy theories, another report has suggested he does not actually live where he is registered to vote.

You can read more here.