The Exposing Extremism in Elections data set includes a list of candidates running for public office who our research indicates have ties to extremist groups or ideologies. This data set provides an easy and accessible way to research and explore candidates and their ties to such extremism.
About the data
Individuals who belong to extremist organizations or harbor extremist views employ a variety of strategies to influence mainstream society, one of which is running for public office. Once elected, these candidates are able to affect laws and public policy from the inside as a part of the political system. Using the data provided by the Exposing Extremism in Elections project, concerned voters, community leaders, political parties, public officials, and businesses can learn about the ideology of these candidates and the individuals they associate with.
The SPLC Action Fund has compiled a list of candidates running for office who appear to have ties to extremism. These ties take different forms – seemingly sympathetic retweets, endorsements, organization memberships or other indications of alignment with philosophies dangerous to participative democracy. We believe that providing this information to the general public will expose the ties these candidates have to extremist groups or ideologies and contribute to an informed voter base.
What information does the project provide?
The Exposing Extremism in Elections project provides information about extremist-tied candidates, new or incumbent, running for public office at local, state and federal levels. The project provides detailed information about the candidate, their election status and any apparent ties they have to extremist groups and/or ideologies. You will find candidates with apparent relationships to, or support from, both hate and antigovernment extremist movements, as well as an array of extremist groups and ideologies. Such candidates are running for all levels of office, all across the country, and in almost every state – extremist-tied candidates are not isolated to any geographic area.
Data Set
The data on this page is for candidates running in the 2022 primary elections in Texas and North Carolina with apparent ties to, or sympathies toward, extremist groups or ideologies. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a collection of candidates who stood out for having such ties or sympathies. The SPLC Action Fund plans to release a full dataset in the coming months with information on extremist-tied candidates in electoral races across the country in 2022.
GUIDE TO USING THE DATA SET AND CODE BOOK
Sources and Methodology
The Intelligence Project team used a standardized method to identify and compile the information in the Exposing Extremism in Elections data sets. The information comes from open source materials and tips submitted to the Intelligence Project by the general public and verified by our researchers. The candidate and election information available in the data sets was collected from publicly available election resources.
The candidates identified in these data sets as having extremist ties came to the Intelligence Project’s attention during its regular monitoring and research of extremist groups and individuals. Once a candidate was identified as having potential ties to extremism, research analysts on the Intelligence Project team conducted further investigation into the nature of the candidate’s associations. Based on the evidence collected, the Intelligence Project team determined whether the candidate’s extremist affiliations met the definition of one of five “relationship type” categories:
- Leader: The candidate is a known leader of an extremist group, chapter or ideological movement.
- Member: The candidate is a known member of an extremist group, chapter or ideological movement.
- Former Member: The candidate is a known former member of an extremist group, chapter or ideological movement (NOTE: This does not refer to reformed extremists).
- Ideological: The candidate is not known to be a member or leader of an extremist group, chapter or ideological movement but their platform, rhetoric and/or behavior demonstrates agreement or alignment with specific extremist ideologies.
- Transactional: The candidate is not known to be a member or leader of an extremist group, chapter or ideological movement and does not have any known extremist views or ideologies; however, the candidate has engaged with an extremist group or ideological movement, potentially to benefit from this association (e.g., to gain votes).
These categories were created by the Intelligence Project team to describe the quality of the candidate’s association with extremism. If a candidate met the threshold for one of the five relationship categories, they were included in the data set; if they did not meet the threshold for one of these categories, they were excluded from the data set.
The Intelligence Project team engaged in a peer-review process to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information presented in the Exposing Extremism in Elections data sets.
Additional Resources, Materials and Tools
In addition to the information on extremist-tied candidates, the Exposing Extremism in Elections project also offers supplementary materials and tools, including:
- Short summaries of newer ideological movements, including QAnon and Constitutional Sheriffs
- Brief descriptions of ideological sub-categories, including those within the antigovernment extremist movement
- Links to additional articles and reports on candidates, extremism and the ties between them
Disclaimer
The SPLC Action Fund does not endorse the viewpoints or vouch for the accuracy of materials or reports that are not its own.
Sources
The SPLC Action Fund used information previously compiled by Ballotpedia and Media Matters to prepare this report.
