Meet the Trump fanatics who have taken over elections in a critical swing state
When Donald Trump was scrambling in November of 2020 to overturn an election he clearly lost, my home state of Michigan was directly in his crosshairs. Nancy Tiseo, a Republican activist from Macomb County—home to the legendary “Reagan Democrats”—was ready to join him on the ramparts.
Tiseo’s prescription: The president should declare martial law, call off the December meeting of the Electoral College, and cancel January Senate runoffs in Georgia. “Military tribunals” are needed, Tiseo wrote on Twitter, “to properly investigate & resolve the cyber warfare 11-3-20 election issue.”
A year later, this fox is guarding her hometown henhouse. As of Oct. 28, Tiseo is the newest member of the Macomb County Board of Canvassers, responsible for overseeing the elections she has denounced as hopelessly corrupt.
Welcome to Michigan’s twisted, terrifying politics, where Democrats and even some Republicans fear that a Trumpist purge of local and state election officials could lead to even greater chaos than last time.
If a contest were held today, Trump might stand a decent chance of winning Michigan the old-fashioned way, by getting more votes. But the political temperature in 2024 may be very different, so it’s no surprise that Trump acolytes are already starting to meddle with the thermometer. With his loyalists in charge of certifying votes, it’s possible Trump could accomplish in 2024 what he was unable to achieve in 2020: a stolen election. [Continue reading…]