Trump's election threats shape this year's key secretary of state races

The aggressive posture taken by Trump and his administration is defining campaigns in both parties for offices that oversee the election process in swing states.

Donald Trump’s call to “nationalize” elections and continued false claims of fraud are defining races this year for offices that oversee the voting process in key battleground states.

Democratic candidates for secretary of state in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada have put Trump’s comments and recent actions by his administration — including lawsuits over state voter rolls and the recent FBI raid of an Atlanta-area election hub — front and center as part of a broader messaging effort focused on protecting elections.

And the Republicans vying to be these states’ top election officials have largely lined up behind Trump’s aggressive approach and unfounded assertions that the 2020 election was stolen from him.