According to a report from NBC, Republican campaign consultants and candidates are expressing real concern that GOP turnout in the 2022 midterms will be down because of Donald Trump's insistence that the 2020 presidential election was rigged which is leading some conservatives to believe it makes no difference if they vote.
As candidates at the state level hold town halls looking to improve their chances on the primaries, they are hearing from attendees that they think Trump had the 2020 election stolen from him and are asking why they should bother to come out on election day.
According to NBC's Alan Smith, candidates are being asked if they believe the 2020 election results were bogus and, if they state they see no evidence of fraud, are facing furious pushback from the voters they hope to claim.
"One year out of office, and with the midterm elections fast approaching, Trump has accelerated efforts to encourage resistance to the reality of his loss. He told his supporters to "never give up" in a statement on the first anniversary of his supporters' rioting at the U.S. Capitol in a deadly attempt to block the formalization of Biden's win," Smith wrote. "In return, there are signs that his voters' anger over the 2020 election and their belief in the falsehood that his victory was stolen from him has only grown, even as some in the GOP have said they'd prefer to move on and focus on issues that may resonate with a wider swath of the electorate, like inflation."
That, in turn, the report notes, has some voters claiming they will be staying home.
At a rally in Michigan, Gary Taylor, 65, bluntly stated, "Unless we fix what went down — and I voted ever since I was able to vote — I'm pretty well done. I mean, what's the point? I think the whole damn thing is corrupt."
According to NBC's Smith, "That sentiment could make a difference in Republicans winning or losing races. In Georgia's Senate runoff elections in January 2021, constant fraud claims by Trump and his allies were seen to have played a role in dampening GOP turnout enough to have allowed for one — if not both — Democratic victories."
Sherrylyn Young, a Republican candidate for the state Senate in Arizona claims she's concerned about the lingering threat of a voting boycott.
"I think there are a lot of people who are saying it's rigged and there's no point in even going out and voting. I hope that doesn't happen," she said before adding low turnout might be "enough to swing an election when it comes right down to it."
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