Texas Tribune:

Baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and rallying cries for “election integrity” have become recurring themes in the Republican primary for Texas attorney general — a job from which the state’s current top lawyer has sought to crack down on supposed illegal voting and joined efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Although there is no evidence that voter fraud affected the 2020 presidential election, Attorney General Ken Paxton and one of the candidates hoping to knock him off in the primary, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, have repeatedly doubted or outright denounced President Joe Biden’s win. Gohmert has falsely claimed that Biden stole the election, and the longtime Tyler congressman signed on to Paxton’s failed lawsuit challenging the electoral results in four states Biden won.

Hours before the U.S. Capitol was stormed on Jan. 6, 2021, Paxton said on Twitter that “a lot of voters, as well as myself, believe something went wrong in this election.”…

Unsubstantiated challenges to the Democrat’s presidency have taken hold in Republican campaigns throughout the state and country, with broad support from the most conservative voters, who often sway primary elections. The belief is prominent in Republican races for Congress and secretaries of state, who are states’ chief election officials, according to Rick Hasen, an elections lawyer and professor at the University of California, Irvine.

It’s a political shift that Hasen argues is dangerous for democracy, especially in the race for attorney general.

“It’s very worrisome when people who are charged with enforcing the law embrace a lie that seeks to undermine the rule of law,” Hasen said. “What saved us from a potentially stolen election by Donald Trump in 2020 were Republican officials who stood up to him.”