Opinion | Michigan Republicans put truth vs. lies on this year’s ballot

A part-time community college professor, Ms. Karamo denied that Joe Biden won Michigan in 2020, though he did so by three points. She said she witnessed election fraud as a “poll challenger.” Elections experts easily debunked her claims, pointing out that she misunderstood basic terminology. Nevertheless, her assertions got her on Sean Hannity’s prime-time Fox News show as a supposed “whistleblower.” Ms. Karamo supported a lawsuit to overturn the 2020 vote in four states. She appeared last year at a Las Vegas convention featuring QAnon conspiracy theorists. And she claimed falsely that “Antifa posing as Trump supporters” staged the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Ms. Karamo insisted in 2020 that Democrats have “totally been taken over by a satanic agenda,” according to a CNN review of her past statements. She also claimed the Republican Party contained “conservative imposters,” saying, “we need to lawfully remove these traitors.”

Ms. Karamo’s wild claims attracted Mr. Trump’s attention. The former president endorsed her for Michigan’s top elections job. She has no relevant experience, aside from embracing Mr. Trump’s corrosive lies. BuzzFeed News notes that Ms. Karamo is one of at least 17 Republicans running on election denial, and she is the first — so far — to get her party’s endorsement. Others include Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), who is running to replace Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R). Mr. Raffensperger refused to manufacture a Trump victory or to discredit Mr. Biden’s win in his state, making him one of the heroes of the 2020 election. Mr. Hice wants GOP primary voters to punish Mr. Raffensperger for standing up for the truth, and polls show he might succeed.

In a more normal political environment, this November’s elections would rightly be about inflation, the covid-19 pandemic, education and any number of other policy matters. But this year’s vote will be different. Candidates are running for office on blatant falsehoods about U.S. democracy. Meanwhile, the House Republican caucus is increasingly radical, opposing at every turn efforts to investigate Jan. 6 and bowing obsequiously to Mr. Trump, who might once again call on Republicans to overturn a free and fair election. If voters fail to repudiate them in November, U.S. democracy could be at risk.