(Bloomberg) — Democrats are attacking Arizona secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem over his ties to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement in a new TV ad that is part of unprecedented spending on races to oversee state elections.
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The ad, which starts airing Tuesday, says Finchem is a “supporter of QAnon,” a reference to the conspiracy theory that falsely claims there is a shadowy cabal of Satan-worshipping elites running the country.
Finchem, who called for decertifying Biden’s win in Arizona and was on the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, spoke at a QAnon convention in Las Vegas, held a fundraiser in California hosted by a conspiracy theorist, and has appeared on a QAnon-supported podcast.
Democrats are putting big money into secretary of state races including in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Nevada this year to stop Republican candidates who supported former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in 2020 from taking over as top elections officer.
The Finchem campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Democratic group iVote, which is spending a record $5 million in the Arizona secretary of state race this cycle, is running the ad in partnership with the state Democratic Party.
Charlie Fisher, executive director of the state party, said the high total was needed in Arizona to stop “an election-denying extremist” from becoming the state’s top elections official.
Another ad from iVote has criticized Michigan Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo for speaking at the same QAnon convention.
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