Voters largely rejected 2020 election deniers on Tuesday, but the definition of 'election denier' may be overbroad

In most swing states this year, Republicans nominated "state-level candidates who didn’t only deny the results of the 2020 elections. They suggested that, if elected in their states, they would carry the gospel of voter fraud, stolen elections, and MAGA forward, using the power of their office to tilt the playing field in favor of the GOP or outright deny Democrats victories," Josh Kovensky and Kaila Philo write for Talking Points Memo.

"Fringe as their viewpoints may have been, it was unclear going into Election Day how these candidates would do; many seemed to have the wind at their backs. But by Wednesday morning, it became clear: In races across the country — from Pennsylvania governor to Arizona secretary of state — those candidates appear to have lost."

The definition of "election denier" may be overbroad. CBS News used that categorization for 308 of the 597 Republicans running in federal or statewide races, but it includes the 138 House members who voted to uphold objections to the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania on Jan. 6, 2021. Even without votes from those states, Joe Biden would have been elected.

"Some of the candidates tried to walk back their denialism after they won their primaries, probably because it doesn’t poll well," Kovensky and Philo write. "Don Bolduc of New Hampshire, for example, famously flipped his position after boasting about denying the 2020 election up until that point. It appears to not have helped him in the end: He lost to Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, who’s so far captured 53.7% of the vote compared to his 44.3%." Bolduc was one of the election deniers nominated with the help of Democratic advertising in Republican primaries, aimed at advancing weak nominees.