A Prominent Election Conspiracy Theorist is Setting His Sights on Michigan For 2026
A former Army intelligence captain who has traveled the country spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election is taking his work to one of the most crucial swing states for the 2026 midterms.
Last week, the far-right local election group Pure Integrity Michigan Elections (PIME) announced that Seth Keshel is joining the organization as a special advisor, with a focus on building out PIME’s “extensive community engagement program” launched last year “to reach out to underserved segments of the voting community, encouraging their civic participation.”
Keshel is one of the country’s most prominent election conspiracy theorists who recently claimed to have briefed an unnamed top White House staffer on “critical election research.”
“I need to be careful not to give out more information than is necessary, but my presentation was to one of President [Donald] Trump’s most critical staff members and his own key staff – someone who undoubtedly interfaces with the President daily,” he wrote in May on his blog. “I had promised them this would be worth their while, and that there would be information shared that I’ve never shared publicly, and that is actionable in that they could change the elections world if in fact some of these changes could be integrated.”
PIME was founded in November of 2020 by Patrice Johson “to take action to help restore election integrity in Michigan,” according to the organization’s website. The group is now active in 83 of the state’s counties and boasts hundreds of supporters who track and advocate for anti-voting measures like strict voter ID requirements and voter roll purges.
Johnson is also a close ally of anti-voting lawyer Cleta Mitchell, who played a key role in Trump’s failed bid to overturn the 2020 election. Johnson is a top Michigan leader of Mitchell’s vast Election Integrity Network — the nationwide anti-voting coalition Mitchell spearheaded to push voter suppression efforts on the state and local level.
It’s no secret that 2020 election denialism lingers in MAGA world — Trump recently called for a special prosecutor to probe false claims of fraud in the 2020 election — but the problem is especially bad in Michigan. After Republicans gained control of the state House of Representatives in the 2024 election, they appointed a prominent election denier to chair the election committee. She has used the position to investigate conspiracy theories and false claims of fraud in the 2020 and 2022 elections, and to target Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D), who’s running for governor.
Michigan has also seen efforts by right-wing officials on election boards to use control of the certification process to spread more lies about voting irregularities.
It’s all setting the stage to sow more election denialism for the 2026 midterms, from a legislative standpoint.
And with someone like Keshel — who has a history of focusing his work in places where he believes there’s going to be voter fraud (even though, as has been proven time and time again, voter fraud is exceedingly rare) — joining the Mitchell-linked PIME, Michigan is poised to be another hotbed of election conspiracy theories in the upcoming midterm election.