Jim Marchant

Jim Marchant
Marchant in 2022
Member of the Nevada Assembly
from the 37th district
In office
November 9, 2016 – November 7, 2018
Preceded byGlenn E. Trowbridge
Succeeded byShea Backus
Personal details
Born
James Carl Marchant Jr.

(1956-05-28) May 28, 1956 (age 68)
Gainesville, Florida, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationTroy University (BA)

James Carl Marchant Jr. (born May 28, 1956) is an American politician, currently residing in Nevada. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the 37th district in the Nevada Assembly, covering parts of the northwestern Las Vegas Valley, from 2016 to 2018. A staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, Marchant was the Republican nominee for Nevada's 4th congressional district in 2020 and for Secretary of State of Nevada in 2022.

In 2020, Marchant lost his U.S. House election to Democrat Steven Horsford, while Trump lost his reelection bid in the concurrent presidential race. In the aftermath of the election, Marchant became a staunch proponent of the disproven conspiracy theory that the election was "stolen" from Republicans through mass voter fraud. He sued to have his own defeat overturned, and became actively involved in numerous unsuccessful efforts to send alternate electors to Washington and overturn the presidential election.[1]

Marchant subsequently announced his candidacy for Nevada Secretary of State in 2022. He was endorsed by far-right congressmen Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of neighboring Arizona, as well as former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.[2] Marchant was the president of the America First Secretary of State Coalition, a group of Republican 2022 Secretary of State candidates supporting the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.[3] He repeatedly said that he would not have certified President Joe Biden's victory in Nevada if he had been Secretary of State at the time of the election, and that he would consider doing the same in 2024 if Biden carried the state again.[4] He also tied himself closely to QAnon, a disproven far-right conspiracy theory, attending an October 2021 conference associated with the movement in Las Vegas.[5][1] Marchant lost the 2022 election to Democrat Cisco Aguilar.[6][7]

Marchant was a candidate for the United States Senate in the 2024 election in Nevada, a seat held by incumbent Democrat Jacky Rosen. He lost in the primary to Sam Brown, placing third.

  1. ^ a b Reid, Tim; Layne, Nathan; Lange, Jason (September 22, 2021). "Special Report: Backers of Trump's false fraud claims seek to control next elections". Reuters.
  2. ^ Ashton-Cirillo, Sarah (2021-12-17). "Video: Trump turncoat Mark Meadows endorses Nevada GOP jester Jim Marchant. Race to bottom is on". Political.tips. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  3. ^ "America First Secretary of State Coalition". America First Secretary of State Coalition. 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2022-06-05. The PAC President, Jim Marchant has been fighting voter fraud in Nevada since 2004, first, as a successful tech businessman, then as a Nevada State Assemblyman and most recently as the President Trump endorsed Republican candidate for Congressional District Four in the 2020 election. Jim is convinced he only lost because of election fraud and widespread election irregularities.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ Bender, Michael C.; Corse, Alexa; Jamerson, Joshua (2021-11-23). "Trump's False Claims of Voter Fraud Test Republican Candidates". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  5. ^ "QAnon group Patriot Voice to hold event in Las Vegas". AP NEWS. August 19, 2021.
  6. ^ Epstein, Reid J.; Corasaniti, Nick (June 15, 2022). "Far-Right Republicans Press Closer to Power Over Future Elections". The New York Times.
  7. ^ "These candidates say Trump won in 2020 — now they're running to oversee future elections". NBC News.