Republican Missouri state Sen. Denny Hoskins, a member of the Freedom Caucus, speaks to hundreds of supporters gathered Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/Summer Ballentine)

The Republican candidate for Missouri’s secretary of state, state Sen. Denny Hoskins (R-Liberty) has been promoting town halls conducted by the touring 2020 election denier Dr. Douglas G. Frank.

Frank, who came to prominence after former President Donald Trump urged him to speak at his first rally upon leaving office, claims to have uncovered clandestine algorithms used to anoint President Joe Biden. According to Frank, Trump said that he wanted the former high school teacher to “explain to the world how our elections are being stolen.” He then crisscrossed the nation asserting that the presidency was stolen from Trump.

In late August, Hoskins posted details on Facebook about an event organized by Frank titled “Elections: Are They Secure?” 

At his seminars, Frank — who has worked for fellow election denier and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell — says that every county in the country had its voting machines hacked during the last election. “I know the elections are not real. I know the elections are being manipulated,” he told CNN in 2022. “Regardless of who wins. I just want ‘em to be fair.”

Frank has recently been operating in Missouri, where he’s held events in Camden, Cape, Cass, Greene, Girardeau, Jackson, Johnson, St. Charles and St. Louis Counties. 

A senior state Democratic official said via email that recent speeches by Frank in the state have been about “stoking militia groups to take matters into their own hands, encouraging them to police polling places, canvass voters at home to uncover fraudulent ballots, and disregard election law.” 

Frank has also advocated the far-right legal theory of “constitutional sheriffs,” which insists that sheriffs are the ultimate arbiters of the Constitution. The philosophy has evolved into a movement that about 10% of sheriffs are affiliated with and has been used to encourage everything from anti-mask laws to mass deportation. 

The affiliation with Hoskins is troubling given the nature of the office he’s seeking: The secretary of state for Missouri is the “chief elections official” for the state. Hoskins has said if he were elected, he’d mandate that votes be counted by hand as a way to prevent the supposed hacking of electronic ballots, despite the anticipated chaos it could bring. The biggest proponent of this strategy? None other than Mike Lindell. 

“Hand-counting ballots is the very simplest, safest way to go,” Hoskins said. “Would it require some more manpower in order for us to do that? Most certainly. But I think overall, it would be safer than our election machines.”