If these debunked claims are all you’ve got, Gov. Bevin, it’s time to exit stage right.
The theatre of the absurd that is now Kentucky’s undecided governor’s election got a little stranger on Wednesday when two Bevin supporters put on a one-act with little drama and some very poorly written dialogue.
Erika Calihan and Kristen Stuebs had enough agency to get a lot of journalists gathered around in Frankfort, throw out some vague insinuations about absentee ballots, then said, “but we’re just moms!” as to whether it’s true that Gov. Matt Bevin is the victim of calculated voter fraud that threw the race to Attorney General Andy Beshear by 5,000 votes even though the rest of the Republican ticket crushed their Democratic opponents. That is indeed some skillful vote wrangling.
The journalists present took the moms’ accusations seriously for long enough to quickly debunk them. As my colleague Daniel Desrochers noted, it’s hard to hack voting machines if they are not connected to the internet.
“Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins said counties keep vote totals on computers that are not connected to the internet and that none of the voting machines are connected to the internet,” his story said.
To add another little dash of craziness, the whole thing was filmed by Millie Weaver, a contributor to InfoWars, a far-right, conspiracy-based website run by Alex Jones, the man who frequently tried to paint the Sandy Hook massacre as a hoax.
Calihan apparently started “Citizens for Election Integrity” a few days ago. She held one press conference in Lexington on Monday that hardly anyone attended. So Bevin ginned things up for the Frankfort event by suggesting people should attend, even saying he might stop by. He evidently thought better of it and stayed away. He thought enough of the two women, though to appoint Calihan to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Kentucky and Stuebs to the Kentucky Horse Park Commission.
One of the main accusations was a discrepancy in the number of absentee ballots in Anderson County. That’s a good example because it was explained by Joe Sonka in the Courier-Journal several hours before the press conference.
“In Anderson County, Denny said their 405 absentee walk-in and mail-in ballots did not properly upload to the secretary of state on election night, which is why they are not reflected in the unofficial totals on the state website,” Sonka wrote. “Denny said their official vote totals submitted to the state on Friday — which are now posted on the county website — show 237 absentee votes for Bevin and 168 absentee votes for Beshear, giving the governor a net gain of 69 votes.”
The two women also cited a CNN graphic that gave 500 votes to Beshear, but as Desrochers noted: “... the State Board of Elections does not certify results based on what CNN puts up on election night.”
Ah, good times. But here’s the serious thing. Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes will preside over a recanvass Thursday with the new Secretary of State, Republican Michael Adams standing by. It is unlikely the vote will change much, and if it does not, and Bevin does not suddenly present new evidence of voter fraud, then for the good of Kentucky he needs to concede. I take Bevin at his word that he loves his adopted state, and he can prove it by not dragging Kentucky through a costly contest that will distract the General Assembly from the work they need to do crafting a budget for the next two years.
Grimes issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the Election Integrity Task Force, which includes the F.B.I., the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorneys had received all complaints but had not raised any concerns.
All establishment Republicans, including Mitch McConnell, have sent their not so veiled goodbyes to Bevin. It’s well known that Bevin doesn’t really listen to other people, one of many qualities that lost him the election. But he could exit stage right with some dignity rather than holding Kentucky hostage to his insatiable ego.
And if you’re really pining for a conspiracy theory, here’s one: This is the kind of playbook being prepared for Donald Trump’s election next year, although presumably it won’t be run like the clown car we saw Wednesday. Trump thought the election was “rigged” when he won because he couldn’t stand the fact that he lost the popular vote. Imagine his reaction if he loses the whole thing. Then we’ll really see some drama.
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 4:52 PM.
