Political Research Associates (PRA) has published an interactive map depicting hundreds of candidates for federal, statewide, and state legislative office in the 2022 midterm election cycle who represent a definable Electoral Far Right, the insurrectionist edge of American politics.

Key Findings:

• PRA has identified 274 candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, who advance multiple categories of bigoted, supremacist, or anti-democracy ideas and policies and/or are involved with far-right movements which promote these ideologies.
• 93 of these candidates are incumbents, while 153 candidates–56% of the total–have advanced from their primaries to the general election, at the time of publication. 

In many ways the 2022 midterm elections are a referendum on the possibility of democracy. Arguably, if the House and Senate swing MAGA in 2022, that is both a harbinger of a Trump or MAGA victory in 2024, and a collective failure to block a style of politics that is bent on White minority rule. Attacks on bodily autonomy, reproductive rights, the separation of church and state, and the acknowledgement of structural racism in public discourse–the central focus of culture war activism–are attacks on real multiracial and inclusive democracy.

PRA Executive Director Tarso Luís Ramos on the significance of this pervasive move rightward: 

“By pushing the outer boundary of public debate ever further towards exclusion, domination, and supremacy, the Electoral Far Right is normalizing ideas antithetical to democracy, advancing the frontier for American-style authoritarianism. This is no mere MAGA chorus, but a rogue’s gallery of hardline bigots–many of them political incumbents–whose actions belie a determination to close the book on the American democratic experiment.”

United Vision for Idaho Executive Director Adrienne Evans underlines the threat posed by this cohort: "This is the most important resource in the country ahead of the upcoming election. These candidates are clear in purpose–destroy democratic institutions from the inside out. If awarded with positions of power make no mistake, their aims are to make good on that promise. It is imperative that we take seriously the consequences of this election."

Co-founder of Blackbird Thenjiwe McHarris gets to the heart of what's at stake: "This report could not have come at a better time. In it, PRA lays out the ways in which White supremacy and authoritarianism continue to be normalized in the political life of the country."

Explore PRA’s interactive map of Far Right Candidates here.

For a deep dive into this mapping project and the relationship between far-right movements and systemic violence, PRA is hosting a roundtable discussion tomorrow Wednesday, October 12th at 4pm ET featuring PRA research analysts Habiba Farh, Heron Greenesmith, and Ben Lorber. Join us for “Beyond the Hate Frame: When Systemic Violence Masquerades as Hate and Extremism” for a robust discussion of how far-right candidates are only one important example of the precipitous spread of violent, antidemocratic movements.

Panelists

Ben Lorber works as a Research Analyst at PRA, focusing on white nationalism and antisemitism. Lorber has worked as a journalist, organizer and movement-builder for over a decade. Lorber has published on right-wing social movements, Israel/Palestine, Jewish culture and other topics at The Nation, Salon, The Jewish Daily Forward and more. He tweets at @BenLorber8.

Habiba Farh is a research analyst at Political Research Associates monitoring legislation and discourses addressing hate crimes, terrorism, and extremism. She joined PRA with nearly a decade of experience working with researchers, journalists, activists, and movement partners to address mass incarceration, surveillance, structural violence. 

Heron Greenesmith, Esq. is a policy attorney with over a decade of LGBTQ advocacy experience. Currently monitoring anti-LGBTQ advocacy, movements, and leaders with PRA, Heron is also an adjunct Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law, an Antibigotry Fellow with the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, and an Editorial Board Member at the Bulletin of Applied Trans Studies.