Pennsylvania Republican Jason Richey, who is running for lieutenant governor on the ticket led by GOP gubernatorial nominee Stacey Garrity, has repeatedly shifted his position on President Donald Trump and claims about the 2020 election.

Richey has promoted Trump-backed conspiracy theories at times while distancing himself from them at others. Journalist Brendan Hartnett examines that relationship in a scathing article for the conservative website The Bulwark, describing it as an example of how “warped” Republicans can become while “kowtowing to Donald Trump.”

Hartnett writes, “One of the top GOP candidates in Pennsylvania was an avid 2020 election denier before he abruptly turned on Donald Trump — only to flip back to MAGA as he sought statewide office this cycle … In a remarkable case of political flimflammery, Richey has had several incredible conversions about Trump and whether he believes the 2020 election was actually stolen, as an analysis by The Bulwark of his past statements reveals.”

According to Hartnett, Richey “once regularly cast doubt on the 2020 election, promoting conspiracy theories about Democrats stealing elections.” Hartnett recalls that Richey emphasized the importance of Republicans winning the governor’s mansion in 2022 so they could control the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, a gubernatorial appointee tasked with certifying presidential election results.

“Five weeks after Trump sicced a mob on the Capitol on January 6th, Richey leaned into the stolen election conspiracy, posting on Facebook that Pennsylvania ‘has work to do to ensure election integrity. I will lead on election integrity,’” Hartnett writes.

Richey soon launched his 2022 campaign for governor. Hartnett says Richey linked his decision to run to Trump’s “Big Lie” about the prior election, saying he “rose up after the election in November 2020,” which had “numerous problems associated with it.” Election integrity became a central issue in his campaign.

At a January 2022 Berks County Patriots event headlined by Tom Homan, Trump’s former acting ICE head and future border czar, Richey said, “in November 2020, we had an election that was taken from us.” Hartnett says Richey “continued to dog-whistle about election conspiracies” until suspending his gubernatorial campaign in March 2022.

After the November 2022 election, however, Richey reversed course and turned against Trump. In a December 2022 interview, he conceded that there was no evidence whatsoever that the 2020 election was rigged.

“We cannot be doing this election denial anymore. That’s gotta go … Trump’s still talking about the 2020 election. That’s over. Nobody wants to hear about that anymore … He’s a narcissist that has problems accepting that he lost. And so, he can’t get over that in his own head, and it’s just killing him,” Richey said.

Hartnett says Richey changed direction again in February 2025, when he became chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Party in Western Pennsylvania. In an open letter to Trump, Richey wrote, “You have done an excellent job in bringing billions in foreign investment to the United States in only the first 100 days of your term. Your business savvy has led to more foreign investment in this country than any other President in history.”

Hartnett further observes, “Inevitably, Richey has also returned to flirting with election conspiracies during his current campaign for lieutenant governor … If Trump doesn’t stick his neck out and offer financial support to Garrity and Richey — despite Richey’s colorful criticism of the president — it could be a death sentence for the floundering campaign that has been significantly outraised by Shapiro. In the meantime, if you want to see a portrait of the Republican Party, warped and kowtowing to Donald Trump and his conspiratorial imagination, look no further than Jason Richey.”

Source: Alternet.