AUSTIN, Texas — Former President Donald Trump’s claims over the past two years that the 2020 election was “stolen” have certain Republicans convinced their votes will not count in 2022, causing them to second-guess if voting in the midterm elections is worthwhile.
As early voting commenced in Texas Monday, conservatives interviewed by the Washington Examiner were still convinced that Democrats stole the previous election. Trump has continued to state this falsehood, including at a rally in Robstown, Texas, over the weekend.
Not only are the “Make America Great Again” faithful convinced they’ve been cheated — they have lost faith in the democratic system, and some may even boycott the polls, a move that could end up costing the Republican Party the votes it needs to win key congressional districts and ultimately its chances of winning a majority and impeaching Biden.
“It’s a real concern that I have — many of us have — that this message that’s been out there since the election, and even frankly, going back to the previous cycle — this sort of distrust that’s out there about the results — it may depress turnout,” said Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican operative in Texas and partner at Austin-based public affairs firm Steinhauser Strategies.
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Steinhauser’s assessment affirmed what Trump supporters told the Washington Examiner at recent campaign events: that they are on the fence about voting because they believe Democrats will rig the results, making their votes for Republican candidates irrelevant.
Internally, GOP leadership is said to be so worried that Trump’s words could destroy the party’s chances on Nov. 8 that party officials have told Trump to drop off the national radar for the next few weeks to avoid hammering any more doubt into the minds of voters that Republicans need to turn out, Steinhauser said.
“There were people that were very high up in the [Republican National Committee] that were telling [Trump] things and telling them, ‘Hey, steer clear. … Go on vacation, go play golf, be quiet. Don’t declare that you’re running again until after the election,’” said Steinhauser, who worked on campaigns for Texans Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Dan Crenshaw and was named by TIME magazine as one of the “40 Under 40” rising stars in U.S. politics. “There’s a lot of that. He’s not going to listen to anybody other than himself and his very few trusted family members and advisers.”
RNC spokeswoman Emma Vaughn pushed back on Steinhauser’s claim, writing in an email Tuesday that it was “false” and that “he would have absolutely no knowledge of conversations taking place involving leadership at the RNC.”
But for the GOP, even if Trump remained silent in the coming weeks, it may be too little, too late.
Kelly Brown, a single mother from Dallas who drove 400 miles to see Trump in Robstown Saturday, said she has found ample evidence that the election was stolen based on information on the internet and independent podcasters. Although Brown viewed voting as a “duty,” she said “there can’t be another election” until the 2020 incident has been remedied.
“Our vote has to count,” Brown said.
Brown is part of 48Negative, the same spin-off QAnon group in which Darryl Brown is a member, though the two are of no relation. The latter Brown drove to the rally from Nashville to show Trump ahead of the midterm elections that his supporters stand with him.
“The election was stolen. I knew that Trump was going to win,” said Brown, who added that he believed Democrats brought in “fake ballots” to beat Republicans in 2020.
Brown said he had not decided if he will vote in two weeks “because I don’t think our votes go toward” Republicans.
Kristina Boss of Karnes City, Texas, attended the Lonesome Dove Fest Parade in late September, where GOP nominee Monica De La Cruz was scheduled to appear but did not show up. Boss is a mother of three, including two adult daughters who she said do not plan to vote next month.
“I’m at this stage right now where I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Boss, a lifelong Republican and Trump voter in 2016 and 2020. “A lot of people that I’ve talked to are feeling like, ‘Why bother? … It didn’t count — like, they’re not counting our votes. So why are we going out there and taking the time to do that?’”
Boss said she watched the 2020 election results roll in two years ago and could not get past how Trump’s “huge” lead was gone by the following morning.
“It makes me really kind of sad. Like, I can’t really talk about it because it gives me chills, goosebumps, and I’m teary-eyed,” said Boss.
An elderly woman at a recent De La Cruz luncheon in Seguin, Texas, who had just spent several hours calling her fellow constituents on behalf of the Republican nominee, said she was not committed to voting but that she believed God would bring about the outcome she wanted.
“I know God is still in control. And I know that Christians need to keep praying because there’s a verse in the Bible,” said the woman, whose name the Washington Examiner did not retain. “It says that God is going to bring a righteous leader and place him in high places. He’s going to remove unrighteous leaders, and not only is he going to remove them, he’s going to expose them.”
The hesitant voters are among two-thirds of Republicans who believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen, that Biden did not win, or that Biden cheated to win, according to polls of conservatives.
“Enthusiasm in South Texas is on our side, as evidenced by record turnout from Republicans in primaries and Mayra Flores’s historic win,” Vaughn said in an email. “Texans reject Democrat failures including an open border, rising prices, out-of-control crime and their woke agenda. This is the year we finally turn South Texas red and put an end to Democrats’ one-party rule.”
A second Republican campaign operative in Texas who asked to remain anonymous said constituent meet-and-greets and rallies in the Lone Star State have been “some of our biggest.”
“There are lots of people that are very fired up to go and vote. And I am not getting the sense that they’re holding back because of something in the past. They are so mad about what they’re enduring right now, in terms of costs,” the second operative said in a phone call. “At every single event, we’ve had people talk to us about how much more their groceries cost, how much their personal finances have gotten hammered. And they know there’s one party that did that to them. And they are looking to take it out on that party.”
In particular, the Republican Party sees a “surge of independents” headed its way in South Texas, which could make up for any hit it takes from its own voters.
Nationwide, more than 9.5 million people have already cast their votes, more than normal turnout in midterm elections, according to the University of Florida’s U.S. Elections Project.
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“If you’ve got a swarm of independents moving toward Republicans down there, it’s game over for the Democrats,” said the operative.
