Far-right favorite Kandiss Taylor received just 3.4 percent of the vote in Georgia’s GOP primary for governor on Tuesday, less than one-twentieth of current Gov. Brian Kemp’s 73.7 percent of the vote. But that isn’t stopping Taylor from refusing to concede and claiming the election was “rigged.”
Taylor, a Trump loyalist who campaigned with the slogan “Jesus Guns Babies” and promised to “stand up to the Luciferian Cabal,” simply believes it’s impossible that she lost this spectacularly.
“We have a national data team working on the 2022 primary election fraud. More will be forthcoming,” Taylor campaign spokesperson Christi Maude told The Daily Beast. “Dr. Kandiss Taylor does not concede.”
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“Given that my vote total currently lags my number of volunteers by nearly 20,000, I do not trust these election results and neither should any supporter of either of my opponents or candidates in any other races,” Taylor further wrote in a press release. “It is my opinion that our elections in Georgia have become a travesty spearheaded by the corrupt, organized, willful assault that Governor Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Attorney General Chris Carr, and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams have inflicted on our election process.”
Taylor went on to write that she does “not concede.” And that’s because she does not seem to believe the election was legitimate. “I know a rigged election when I see one, and this bears all the marks,” read a message that Taylor reposted on Telegram.
Of course, Kemp doesn’t need Taylor to concede to take the GOP nomination for governor.
But with Kemp taking home enough of the vote to avoid a run-off—an embarrassment to former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), who took home 21.8 percent of the vote, and to former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Perdue—conservatives just don’t appear willing to accept the results. And that refusal to accept the realities of a losing election further illustrates the direction of the far-right and Trump Republicans: They’re reluctant to trust anything that doesn’t go their way.
“After seeing the energy and enthusiasm first-hand in Georgia for Kandiss Taylor, the numbers obviously do not add up,” informal Taylor campaign adviser and failed Republican Senate candidate Lauren Witzke told The Daily Beast on Friday. “Taylor’s number of volunteers alone surpassed the number of votes received.”
“Kandiss Taylor has reviewed and approved this quote,” Witzke added.
Taylor didn’t return The Daily Beast’s request for comment on Friday.
Elsewhere, Taylor allies—like Jan 6th organizer Ali Alexander and far-right radio host Stew Peters—shared allegations of a “rigged” primary election.
MyPillow CEO and 2020 election truther Mike Lindell also echoed claims of wrongdoing.
“Georgia was completely cheated,” said Lindell, an early and fervent backer of Taylor in the primary race.
“There is an algorithm in Georgia,” Lindell said, before claiming that a “big investigation” is underway into uncovering fraudulent activity in the Republican primary race.
“Brian Kemp, he did not get 70 some percent of the vote,” he added. “It’s all a big lie. It’s the big lie!”
Lindell, who served as a Taylor campaign surrogate, remains steadfast in his belief that Trump won the 2020 election and the ex-president can still be re-installed as commander-in-chief.
“We need to get rid of the machines,” Lindell said. “We don’t have elections in the United States anymore, they are called selections.”
