LANSING — New reporting from The Gander highlighted how Republican SOS candidate Anthony Forlini’s embrace of election-denying conspiracy theories and hiring of election deniers is coming back to haunt him.

In recent weeks, Forlini has refused to say who won the 2020 election and “was one of several Michigan lawmakers who promoted conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud” in 2020. Forlini has also “continued to defend” hiring January 6th insurrectionist Genevieve Peters to “recruit and train poll workers for future elections.” When asked about this, Forlini said he doesn’t hire based on “political beliefs”… like believing in fair elections?

Beyond cozying up to Trump by refusing to admit he lost the 2020 election, Forlini is in bed with other MAGA election conspiracists, like Scott Presler, who recently praised Forlini for his attempts to “bypass” the Secretary of State and Governor as a County Clerk. Forlini thanked Presler for the “shoutout.”

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The Gander: Anthony Forlini’s ‘election denier’ past is haunting him in the race for Michigan SOS

• However, some Michiganders remain unconvinced that Forlini has voters’ best interests at heart, given his stance on election integrity in recent years and continued support for the Trump administration’s questioning of the fairness of local elections nationwide. 
• Forlini was one of several Michigan lawmakers who promoted conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud during the 2020 US presidential election.
• Forlini has also continued to defend hiring social media influencer Genevieve Peters, a January 6 rioter who urged insurrectionists to “storm the gates” of the US Capitol Building, to recruit and train poll workers for future elections. In 2020, Peters also attended a Lansing rally alongside the Proud Boys, an organization with a long history of political violence, including at the January 6 election, and livestreamed a “Stop the Steal” rally contesting the results of that year’s US presidential election outside Benson’s home.
• When asked to explain this hiring decision during the debate on Oct. 8, Forlini said he “hires personalities; I don’t hire based on their political beliefs.”

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