Several Republican candidates have refused to concede their losses and some are even stoking conspiracy theories about "irregularities" after the widely-hyped "red wave" never came to fruition on Tuesday.
Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano, a 2020 election denier and Jan. 6 rally attendee, refused to concede in the Pennsylvania governor's race on Tuesday.
His opponent, Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro, was projected as the winner by most major news outlets before midnight on Tuesday. Shapiro leads the race by 13 points with more 94% of the votes counted, according to the Associated Press. Other networks also called the race for Shapiro, including NBC News, Fox News, and CNN.
Despite Shapiro's projected win, Mastriano said that there's still "a ways to go," noting that there are more votes to be counted.
"Have faith, we're gonna, uh, of course, we're gonna have faith and have patience," he told his supporters in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania late Tuesday night. "We're gonna wait until every vote counts, right?"
Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano (R) is not conceding to Governor-elect Josh Shapiro (D) despite every reputable network calling the race.
A supporter pops confetti in the front row. pic.twitter.com/UKJq75gSVu
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2022
Meanwhile, Shapiro celebrated his victory, telling voters at his election night party that they "stood up to the extremism that has taken root in some parts of our society."
Shapiro had a steady lead in the polls in the days leading up to the election, while the far-right Mastriano went on the defensive and refused to speak with the mainstream press.
In Arizona, Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake suggested that the results of her race against Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, which remains too close to call, may not be legitimate due to technical issues in Maricopa County Tuesday morning.
"Two minutes into voting, we had people being told, 'Well, you're going to have to put your little ballot over here into another box," she said onstage in Scottsdale, Arizona. "The fake media over there tried to tell us we were wrong for asking questions about our elections."
Lake has repeatedly claimed that if she had been in charge, she would not have certified President Joe Biden's win in Arizona in 2020.
The Associated Press on Wednesday morning called the New York gubernatorial race for Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., the first woman elected governor in the state.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., the Republican nominee, refused to concede defeat early Wednesday despite 71% of precincts reporting Hochul had 54% of the vote compared to Zeldin's 45%.
"We hope that as these results come in that we'll be able to prevail," he said, waiting for additional votes to be counted.
Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., also declared victory in his bid for re-election in Rochester after he was projected as the winner of the 25th District in New York, with 53% of the vote according to AP.
But his Republican opponent La'Ron Singletary has not conceded and called into question the legitimacy of the election. Singletary — the former chief of the Rochester Police Department — called for an investigation into "unprecedented irregularities in our election process." He cited concerns over the validity of ballots and whether they were counted and recorded properly.
"I don't have any specific reason to say this wasn't a fair and just election," said Singletary's attorney Dan Strollo. "We just want to know what happened, why the servers went down."
Strollo also questioned why Monroe County Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Lisa Nicolay "wouldn't come down and answer questions," about their claims.
The statements from Mastriano, Lake, Zeldin and Singletary stand in stark contrast to other Republicans who have conceded to their Democratic opponents. Republican Mehmet Oz called Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, D-Pa., to concede the Senate race early Wednesday morning, according to Fetterman's campaign.
Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, announced on Tuesday that he had the "privilege" to concede the Ohio Senate race to Republican J.D. Vance, and called out the election deniers.
"The way this country operates is that when you lose an election you concede," he said in his concession speech. "You respect the will of the people. We can't have a system where if you win it's a legitimate election and if you lose someone stole it."
Tim Ryan: "I have the privilege to concede this race to JD Vance, bc the way this country operates is that when you lose an election you concede. You respect the will of the people. We can't have a system where if you win it's a legitimate election & if you lose someone stole it" pic.twitter.com/7BTPJAsVu0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 9, 2022
