Only Eight of 19 Republican Election Denier Candidates Lost Last Night

The blue water that engulfed Colorado last night washed away eight of the 19 election-denying Republicans who were on election ballots across the state.

Some votes are still being counted, but we already know that the GOP will have at least two members of Congress and eight state legislators, all of whom who either promoted the Big Lie or supported efforts to overturn the election, sworn into office this January.

Here is a list of GOP candidates who, in some form, promoted election conspiracies — with a note on how each conspiracist fared in the election.

Candidate for U.S. Rep. Erik Aadland, who said that the election was “absolutely rigged,” LOST.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who openly embraces election fraud conspiracy theories, is LOSING.

State Sen. Mark Baisley (R-Roxborough Park), who was a featured speaker at an election-conspiracy rally in April, promoted the Big Lie on Facebook, endorsed prominent deniers Tina Peters and Ron Hanks, and attended multiple events sponsored by election-conspiracy groups, WON.

Scott Bottoms, who ran for House District 15 in Colorado Springs, and promoted the Big Lie during his campaign, WON.

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, who acknowledged Biden’s victory, but backed the Texas lawsuit, WON.

Kenneth DeGraaf, who ran for Colorado Springs House seat (HD22) promoted the Dominion Voting Systems conspiracy theory on Facebook and wrote on his campaign website, that he finds Tina Peters’ “arrest for revealing Dominion vulnerabilities disturbing,” WON.

GOP candidate for Governor Heidi Ganahl, who during her campaign mostly refused to say the 2020 presidential election was legitimate and told election-denying supporters that “we’ve got to have such a red tsunami… there’s no fixing it,” referring to the Big Lie, LOST.

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, who backed the Texas lawsuit to overturn the results of the 2020 election and refused to certify electoral votes on Jan. 6, WON.

Katie Lehr, who ran for Colorado Statehouse seat near Boulder (HD49) and attended the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and agrees with election-fraud conspiracies, LOST.

State Rep. Stephanie Luck (R-Penrose), who in April of 2021 was still asking John Eastman, Trump’s insurrectionist lawyer, if there were legal avenues to overturn the 2020 presidential election, WON.

GOP candidate for Lieutenant Governor Danny Moore, who has an irrefutable history as an election conspiracist, LOST.

Melody Peotter, who was the Republican candidate for state Senate District 25 and works for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s Cause of America election conspiracy group, LOST. Peotter’s husband Brian, who promoted the Big Lie, was the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate and also lost his race.

GOP candidate running for Colorado’s State Board of Education Peggy Propst, who advocated for the debunked conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen, LOST.

Ty Winter, who ran for a southeastern Colorado House seat and made multiple election fraud conspiracy statements on social media following the 2020 election, WON.

State Sen. Kevin Van Winkle (R-Highlands Park), who promoted a “Standing for Trump” petition, which stated that the “establishment media and deep state refuse to acknowledge the growing evidence of election fraud uncovered by the Trump Campaign and other independent investigators,” WON.

GOP candidate for Denver’s House District 2 Steph Wheeler, who worked as the sole paid staffer of FEC United, an extremist election conspiracy group, LOST.

State Representatives Rod Bockenfeld (R-Watkins), Marc Catlin (R-Montrose), and the aforementioned Luck, as well as state Senators Baisley and Van Winkle all voted in January to “call into question” whether the 2020 presidential election was legitimate and to urge the decertification of the 2020 election results. They also thanked state Rep. Ron Hanks (R-Cañon City) for being at the Jan. 6 demonstration at the U.S. Capitol, as well as those who joined him there. Baisley later walked back his vote, but he never recanted his endorsement of Peters and Hanks or his multiple Facebook posts. They all WON.

Footnote: Colorado state Senate candidate Matt Solomon, who endorsed the Trump campaign’s “alternate elector” scheme, an illegal subversion of the electoral college proposed by Epshteyn and John Eastman, LOST.