Trump strategist falsely claims state primary was rigged against Culp, Kent

This week, conspiracy theorist and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon is claiming – without evidence – that "elites" are rigging the primary ballot count in Washington state.

He made the groundless claim in interviews on his podcast with two Trump-backed Republican candidates – Joe Kent, who is running in Washington's 3rd Congressional District, and Loren Culp, who is running in the 4th.

“They’re working this thing out to get the vote they want to have,” Bannon said. In separate interviews, neither candidate disagreed with Bannon’s election conspiracy theories.

When asked by Bannon if he agreed, Culp responded, “Yeah, they don't want Loren Culp and Joe Kent in Congress… They want the money laundering scheme that they've got going to continue.”

Both candidates are trying to knock off Republican incumbents who were among the 10 in the U.S. House to vote to impeach Trump. But the two Trump-backed challengers are in third place in each of their races after the last mail-in ballot count.

Incumbent Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler is currently in second behind Democrat Marie Perez, who will advance to the general election in Washington’s 3rd District. In the race for the 4th District, Rep. Dan Newhouse is currently in first place with Democrat Doug White in second.

Only the top two candidates from either party will move on to the general election under Washington’s top-two primary system.