As Democrats press 'threat to democracy' in campaign's final days, few GOP candidates still want to talk about 2020

Republicans switched gears to focus on issues such as inflation and crime while highlighting “parental rights” to bolster conservative credentials.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Matthew DePerno, the Republican nominee for attorney general in Michigan, checked off every issue he says his campaign is focused on in the closing weeks of a key midterm race: Crime, sex trafficking, fentanyl, education, the economy, business regulations and gas prices.

One issue he did not mention? Efforts to investigate the 2020 election and institute changes to the state’s election procedures — the promises that helped propel DePerno onto the political map and won him former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

“I think it polls down the list,” DePerno told NBC News in an interview. “Certainly, I think it’s an important issue. But when we’re out talking to voters across the state — independents and soft Democrats and those middle-aged, suburban women in southeast Michigan — it’s just an issue that ranks lower than crime and education. It ranks lower than religious liberty, ranks lower than the business issues, inflation, gas prices and meat-and-potato issues of putting food on the table. I think it’s still important. It’s just … sort of a lesser issue.”

With midterm campaigns in their closing sprint, DePerno’s focus speaks to a trend across the battleground states. While Democrats are framing the elections as a referendum on the future of democracy, offering stark warnings that a significant number of Trump allies running for office have demonstrated they will not respect the democratic process after two years of Trump pushing his stolen election lie, Republicans have shifted their attention elsewhere. They’ve switched gears to focus on issues such as inflation and crime that poll highest among voter concerns while highlighting their stance on “parental rights” to bolster their conservative credentials rather than taking aim at the 2020 vote.

The result can be disorienting, as Republicans have largely not renounced their efforts to delegitimize the 2020 vote, though some have attempted to muddy the waters on their positions. In a promising election cycle for Republicans, the renewed focus on other issues has coincided with improved polling across the battleground landscape and has political observers predicting that Republicans could see gains not only in the House, but in key Senate and governors’ races. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/democrats-press-threat-democracy-campaigns-final-days-gop-candidates-s-rcna55806


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