ONE OF THE TOP GOP CANDIDATES in Pennsylvania was an avid 2020 election denier before he abruptly turned on Donald Trump—only to flip back to MAGA as he sought statewide office this cycle.
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he → turn → office
Jason Richey, an attorney from Allegheny County, is running for lieutenant governor on the ticket helmed by Trump-endorsed Stacy Garrity.
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Richey → run → Garrity
The duo faces overwhelming odds to defeat incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro, whom polls show holds a commanding double-digit lead over Garrity, and incumbent Lt. Gov. Austin Davis.
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polls → face → Garrity
But if Garrity and Richey were to pull out a surprise victory, it would constitute one of the greatest triumphs of the 2020 Stop the Steal movement since Trump’s return to the White House.
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it → pull → House
In a remarkable case of political flimflammery, Richey has had several incredible conversions about Trump and whether he believes the 2020 election was actually stolen, as an analysis by The Bulwark of his past statements reveals.
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analysis → have → statements
Like his running mate Garrity, Richey once regularly cast doubt on the 2020 election, promoting conspiracy theories about Democrats stealing elections.
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Democrats → cast → elections
He specifically highlighted how important it would be for Republicans to win the governor’s mansion in 2022 in order to control the office of the secretary of the commonwealth—a gubernatorial appointee tasked with certifying presidential election results.
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Republicans → highlight → results
Five weeks after Trump sicced a mob on the Capitol on January 6th, Richey leaned into the stolen election conspiracy, posting on Facebook that Pennsylvania “has work to do to ensure election integrity.
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Pennsylvania → sicce → integrity
I will lead on election integrity.”
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I → lead → integrity
Soon after, he launched his 2022 campaign for governor.
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he → launch → governor
He linked his decision to run to Donald Trump’s Big Lie about the previous election, saying he “rose up after the election in November 2020,” which had “numerous problems associated with it.”
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which → link → it
Richey made election integrity a central issue of his campaign.
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integrity → make → campaign
At a January 2022 Berks County Patriots event headlined by Tom Homan, Trump’s former acting ICE head (and future border czar), Richey said that “In November 2020, we had an election that was taken from us.”
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that → headline → us
Richey went on:
We will not forget what happened in November 2020.
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what → forget → November
We had an election taken from us, and something called Act 77 was passed—right?—by the politicians.
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something → have → politicians
Fifty days of mail-in balloting, and you all know it in here—this is an educated group—it allows for ballot harvesting and all kinds of ways for the Democrats to cheat.
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Democrats → mail → ways
At one of several debates that same month, Richey claimed “Pennsylvania lacks election integrity”:
During another debate, he zoomed in on the Pennsylvania governor’s office and its role in the state’s election certification process:
Democrats “know if they want to win the next presidential election, that they will have to get the governor spot so they can appoint the secretary of state.”
Richey promised, “I will appoint a secretary of state that understands election integrity, our code, and audits, and that’s why it’s so important that we win.”
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we → claim → integrity
Richey continued to dog-whistle about election conspiracies until he suspended his campaign for governor in March 2022.
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he → continue → March
BUT THEN RICHEY CHANGED HIS MIND.
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RICHEY → change → MIND
After the November 2022 election, Richey turned against Trump.
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Richey → turn → Trump
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subscription → get → Podcast
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who → help → membership
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