Republicans know how to win this time, even if they don't get the votes

The single most extraordinary act in attempting to overturn the 2020 election may not have been the multistate effort to install fake electors, the over 60 lawsuits Donald Trump and his allies filed citing false evidence, or even Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. 

The most extraordinary undertaking of the whole tragic cycle came on Nov. 17, 2020. That’s when the most powerful man in the world, joined by the leader of his party’s committee, reached down to two low-level officials on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers and tried to pressure them to halt democracy in its tracks. 

That action failed—but only by a whisker—and it’s completely unclear what would have happened had Trump succeeded in preventing the certification of votes in the county encompassing Detroit. What’s clear is that Republicans recognized county-level officials as representing a weakness in the election process—one that could be weaponized more easily and effectively than anything at the state or federal level.

Over the past four years, Republicans have set out to consolidate their control over these low-level positions, populating these roles with Trump loyalists while facing little opposition. Now that they’ve built this democracy-crushing machine, they’re taking it for a test run.