- A Maryland Republican said he won’t concede election despite trailing by more than 300,000 votes.
- Peroutka alleged “odd and suspicious” election activity but provided no specifics.
- Maryland state board of elections said it has seen no sign of suspicious incidents.
The GOP’s nominee for Maryland’s attorney general has refused to concede, despite trailing his opponent by more than 300,000 votes.
Hard-right candidate Michael Peroutka lost his race to Democrat Anthony Brown late on Tuesday, per the Associated Press. As of Friday, Maryland reported 100% of the votes counted, showing Brown with 60.71% of the vote.
Both Brown — and Democrat Wes Moore — made history as the state’s first Black attorney general and governor, respectively.
Following his loss, Perouta emailed supporters saying he will not concede, suggesting that electoral fraud had taken place, according to The Washington Post. A version of that statement was also posted to a Facebook page attributed to his campaign.
“During yesterday’s voting, many odd and suspicious incidents were reported by poll watchers, and more reports are being gathered today,” it read.
It added that Perouta plans to "investigate these strange occurrences and I do not plan to concede the race."
In a later post on the same Facebook page, a post called for voters who cast their ballot at a Howard County middle school to contact Peroutka, saying he is looking to "speak with any election workers from that site, not just poll watchers, but any officials, judges, or chief judges."
Peroutka didn't provide evidence for his assertions, and did not immediately respond to Insider's request for further comment, which was sent outside of working hours.
Meanwhile, Maryland State Board of Elections (SEB) said Marylanders can be "confident" in the result, per a statement seen by the Post.
The board "works with the local boards of elections to determine whether referral of reported activities to the Office of the State Prosecutor is warranted," the statement read.
"At this time, SBE is not aware of any such incidents. Marylanders can be confident in the integrity of the state's election processes and that any potentially inappropriate activity will be thoroughly investigated."
Maryland Republican Party Chairman Dirk Haire told the paper that he had seen no unusual election activity.
Peroutka is a former Anne Arundel County Council member and former debt-collection attorney. He was a board member of League of the South between 2012 and 2014, according to Vice. The group is now designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Peroutka has disavowed racist statements by the group's leader, but not the group itself, Vice reported.
In the Maryland attorney general race he campaigned on issues of gun rights, protection of the elderly and the "pre-born," border security, and opposing health mandates, per his website.
He also called for the prosecution of officials who "have exceeded their lawful authority" and promised to "investigate discrepancies and anomalies in recent elections in Maryland."
In October, Peroutka commented on the 2020 presidential election, saying that the media was wrong to call election denialism "The Big Lie."
"Their claim that there is no evidence of fraud or corruption is itself nothing more than a blithe assertion — without evidence or support — and actually impossible to prove," he wrote.
There have been a wealth of independent fact checks, lawsuits, and election investigations, none of which have succeeded in uncovering evidence of widespread election fraud in the 2020 election.