Busted: Trump-endorsed House candidate caught calling election deniers 'crazies' in leaked text
A Republican candidate for Congress endorsed by former President Donald Trump brazenly mocked some of his most fervent supporters in a text message obtained by a local journalist.
In the January 2023 text message, which was first tweeted by Arizona Republic reporter Laura Gersony, Republican Abraham Hamadeh referred to election deniers as "crazies" in a private conversation with failed GOP U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters (who is now his primary opponent for Arizona's 8th Congressional District). Masters sent Hamadeh encouragement about his narrow loss in the 2022 Arizona Attorney General's race, in which Democrat Kris Mayes beat Hamadeh by just 280 total votes out of more than 2.5 million ballots cast statewide.
Masters told Hamadeh that "it must be hell" to lose by such a close margin. However, Hamadeh confided to Masters that he was "doing great," and was glad to be "not lumped in with the crazies with election stuff because I'm so close at 280 [votes], but the crazies love me because they see me fighting."
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"Win win," Hamadeh told Masters.
As Hamadeh alluded to in the text message, he remained steadfast in his dispute of the official 2022 election results, which saw Arizona Democrats win close victories against Republicans in the U.S. Senate, gubernatorial, attorney general and secretary of state races (Republican candidates won their elections for state treasurer, superintendent of public instruction and state mine inspector). According to the Republic, Hamadeh still hadn't conceded as of February, when he still challenged the result in an 8th congressional district candidate forum
"Numerous lawsuits across the country have failed to surface evidence of widespread fraud in U.S. elections. Still, several candidates boasted about their efforts disputing election integrity," Gersony wrote at the time. "Hamadeh put the issue front and center in his opening remarks. The former candidate for Arizona attorney general said that he is still fighting the outcome of the election he lost in 2022 and has resisted pressure to drop the lawsuits. The fact that he 'stood strong' helped earn him endorsements from Trump and the front-running U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, he said."
In a tweet responding to the text message Gersony posted, podcaster Fred Wellman opined that the far-right's trend of disputing election results was a "scam" that candidates themselves are running on the base to "grift" their supporters.
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"They know there was no fraud," Wellman wrote. "'Fighting' means fundraising. Speaking engagements. Permanent campaigns to pay all their living expenses from donors. It’s all just a giant money laundering scheme."
Arizona's 8th congressional district will likely be one of the most-watched in the country on election night this November, as it may be one of a small handful of contests that will determine which party controls the House of Representatives for the next two years. Currently, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has a slim three-seat lead over Democrats after numerous early retirements from various Republicans.
The Grand Canyon State could also decide which party controls the U.S. Senate, as failed 2022 gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is hoping to win the seat vacated by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona), who is retiring. She's running against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), and slightly trails him in polls according to RealClearPolitics.
As of Wednesday, Trump has not retracted his endorsement of Hamadeh.
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