LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan governors and elected officials from both parties are joining a broader effort to combat misinformation and attacks on voting and vote counting in several swing states ahead of the fast-approaching presidential election.
The Democracy Defense Project also includes former officials from several states where then-President Donald Trump sought to overturn his 2020 election loss, including Georgia. Their goal is to build confidence in elections through radio and television ads, media outreach and grassroots engagement.
“We’re going to collectively, where appropriate, speak out when people question the integrity or the accuracy of our voting records. We believe in our system and we don’t appreciate people making up stories that are self-serving,” former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard told The Associated Press ahead of the Michigan chapter’s official launch on Thursday.
Blanchard, a Democrat who served as governor from 1983 to 1991, is joined on the Michigan team by former Republican Gov. John Engler, former Democratic Lt. Gov. John Cherry and former Republican U.S. Congressman Mike Bishop.
The focus on bolstering confidence in elections in key states follows years of attacks on their electoral systems by Trump and his allies, who have consistently sought to undermine the 2020 presidential election results.
In Michigan, where 15 Republicans have been charged with acting as fraudulent electors, Trump pressured officials not to certify the results and armed protesters surrounded the secretary of state’s home, alleging voter fraud.
Many officials and advocates are bracing for similar challenges this year as Trump warns his supporters — without evidence — that Democrats will try to cheat.
While most Americans have at least “moderate” trust in the government-certified election results, Republicans are more likely to trust Trump and his campaign, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts. At the same time, a majority of Republicans believe Trump’s lies that Joe Biden was not legitimately elected president.
During Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump again cast doubt on the 2020 election results, even as his campaign lost dozens of lawsuits, his own attorney general said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and reviews, recounts and audits in the swing states where he contested his loss — including Michigan — all confirmed Biden’s victory.
Bishop said it was “painful to watch” Trump continue to deny he lost the 2020 election, and that he “turned off the TV at that point.”
“It was very disappointing to see this issue come up again. I didn’t expect it. I don’t think most people did,” he said. “I do think it’s a crushing blow to the Republican candidate.”
Engler, who served as governor from 1991 to 2003, shared a similar sentiment, saying that Trump “lost the election, he has not served as president and he will not serve a single day of this four-year term as president.”
“That’s over. And he’s a fool in my eyes to continue to dwell on this,” Engler said.
Many other members of the Democracy Defense Project have condemned Trump’s comments about the 2020 election. Still, some plan to support him this year, the group’s national spokesman Brian Jones said, adding that they “still believe in the importance of our election system and that the 2020 election was rightly decided.”
The group operates in eight states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
