Dear MoveOn member,
For months, election experts have been warning about Donald Trump's efforts to install proponents of his "Big Lie" to oversee elections in key battleground states.1
Now we've learned that several of these candidates have direct connections to QAnon, the dangerous pro-Trump conspiracy theory movement, and that these QAnon candidates have joined forces to "control the election system."2
These are not just a handful of fringe also-rans with no chance of winning. In fact, a total of 21 candidates who deny that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election are running for various secretary of state offices around the country.3 Meanwhile, Trump's political action committees have raised a stunning $122 million that he can use to help them win.4
If any of these candidates are successful, they would be in position to help execute Trump's plot to rig the elections in 2024 and install him in the White House for a second term.
That's why MoveOn is doing something we've never done in our 23-year history: We're launching a multimillion-dollar effort to defeat Trump-backed QAnon candidates for secretary of state across the country and defend our free and fair elections.
Will you donate $5 a month to power and sustain the effort to stop the Trump-backed conspiracy theorists from taking over our elections?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
So far, at least six of the 21 "Big Lie" candidates running for secretary of state offices around the country have been linked to QAnon.5
These candidates include a former Nevada state legislator who publicly bragged at a QAnon convention that he and others were directly recruited to run by QAnon proponents.6
Another QAnon-linked candidate is January 6 insurrectionist and Arizona state legislator Mark Finchem, who has appeared on a QAnon web show and claimed that elected officials are "involved in a pedophile network in the distribution of children," a key tenet of the QAnon delusion.7,8 Finchem has raised $660,000 for the race so far, which is more than the two leading Democrats combined.9
Meanwhile, QAnon message boards are lighting up with activity to help these candidates win.
If you think that fringe white supremacist extremists like this could never get elected, think again. Many of them have already been elected to state offices, and there are already at least two known QAnon believers in Congress—Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.
Especially after January 6, we cannot underestimate the threat posed by radical right-wing extremists. That's precisely why MoveOn is going big in secretary of state races across the country to defeat these pro-Trump conspiracy theory candidates. Will you donate $5 a month to power these efforts from now until Election Day?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Our democracy is on a knife's edge, and secretaries of state who will count every vote and ensure free and fair elections may be the only thing standing between democracy and authoritarianism.
That's why—for the first time in our 23-year history—MoveOn is dedicating millions of dollars to help elect secretaries of state who will put our democracy first and stand up to QAnon.
Please, if you are able, will you join us by chipping in $5 a month—or whatever you can—to take down the QAnon plot to put Trump loyalists in charge of overseeing elections?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Chris, Corinne, Justin, David, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Campaigning to Oversee Elections, While Denying the Last One," The New York Times, January 30, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/160255?t=8&akid=317543%2E40999114%2ESOi7uG
2. "Trump-Backed QAnon Candidates Launch Group to 'Control the Election System,'" Vice, October 27, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/160920?t=10&akid=317543%2E40999114%2ESOi7uG
3. "Campaigning to Oversee Elections, While Denying the Last One," The New York Times, January 30, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/160255?t=12&akid=317543%2E40999114%2ESOi7uG
4. "Trump began 2022 with a war chest of $122 million," The Washington Post, January 31, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/160263?t=14&akid=317543%2E40999114%2ESOi7uG
5. "Multiple people seeking to run state elections are connected to QAnon," Media Matters, August 16, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/160923?t=16&akid=317543%2E40999114%2ESOi7uG
6. Tweet by Alex Kaplan, October 25, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/160924?t=18&akid=317543%2E40999114%2ESOi7uG
7. Tweet by Alex Kaplan, May 10, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/160925?t=20&akid=317543%2E40999114%2ESOi7uG
8. "These locally elected officials posted or openly supported QAnon conspiracy theories. Here's what happened after they took office," CNN, June 3, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/160926?t=22&akid=317543%2E40999114%2ESOi7uG
9. "Trump followers zero in on secretary of state campaigns," Politico, January 24, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/160256?t=24&akid=317543%2E40999114%2ESOi7uG
Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump's preparations for being able to steal the presidency in 2024 are well underway and include working to replace top election officials in battleground states with his own loyalists. Which is why MoveOn is doing something we've never done in our 23-year history: We're launching a powerful, multimillion-dollar effort to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state across the country and elect individuals who will count every vote and ensure fair elections.
Will you chip in monthly to power our campaign to defeat Trump and protect our elections in 2022?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON
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