FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — Defeated mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson, refusing to accept her landslide loss in Franklin's city election, has now partnered with discredited election deniers in Arizona in claiming the election was rigged.
Hanson — who was defeated by incumbent Mayor Ken Moore by a four-to-one margin following a scandal-filled campaign — recorded a podcast over the weekend with right-wing activist Lyle Rapacki and defeated Arizona Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem.
Finchem latched onto multiple bogus claims by Hanson to claim fraud, saying he would support an effort by the Franklin alderman to challenge the outcome of the election.
"Elections belong to the people. They don't belong to some government bureaucracy," Finchem told Hanson.
"And what you're describing, madam, is not an election. It's a selection that was preset before anybody ever walked into that election booth."
Hanson's defeat followed a series of NewsChannel 5 investigations that included her association with self-proclaimed white supremacists and neo-Nazis, her lifting of social media images to falsely claim a group of diverse women as supporters, her bogus claims to have had inside information about Nashville's Covenant School shooting and the hypocrisy of her having supported LGBTQ Pride events in Chicago while opposing them in Franklin.
But, by Hanson's telling, none of that was her fault.
Hanson sees conspiracy with NewsChannel 5
Hanson lied to the podcasters, falsely claiming that NewsChannel 5 was "paid a lot of money" to run those stories and falsely hinting that the money came from Republican state Sen. Jack Johnson of Franklin.
Finchem said Hanson was the victim of what he called "fifth-generation warfare," citing a book from longtime Donald Trump adviser Gen. Michael Flynn.
"What they are doing is they're publishing bullsh*t, trying to make people think that it is legitimate," Finchem said. "And then they recycle it and they recycle it and they recycle it again — and suddenly it becomes this urban legend that somehow transcends the truth."
No one has challenged the accuracy of any of NewsChannel 5's reports.
Hanson sees conspiracy with record voter turnout
Hanson also sees a conspiracy in the record turnout of voters determined to ensure that she and her allies were not given the reins of power in this Middle Tennessee community.
"We had three and a half times the normal turnout for an election," Hanson said, claiming that such a turnout would normally result in the wholesale rejection of incumbents.
"So to see it flip like that, after all the calls that myself and the other three aldermen running got just seems very questionable," she continued.
Hanson sees conspiracy in slate's similar votes
Hanson ran as part of a slate of candidates organized by the right-wing Williamson Families PAC, including alderman candidates Jeff Feldman, Patrick George, and Gary Moore.
Again, Hanson bizarrely claimed that there was something odd about a slate of candidates receiving similar votes in a citywide election, and Finchem agreed.
"If you weren't actually speaking about this as a real event, I would think that I was reading fiction," the Arizona election denier said, claiming there was a "statistical improbability" of the slate of candidates receiving a similar number of votes — even though they were all courting the same voters and campaigning as a team.
Hanson sees conspiracy with poll worker who opposes fascism
Among her other conspiracy theories, Hanson suggested there was something odd about Joshua Patrick, the secretary of the Williamson County Young Democrats, working as a poll watcher at one precinct. Patrick is a Franklin resident and a volunteer with the nonprofit Organize Tennessee, which works to supply poll watchers for area elections.
"He works for the new self-described socialist mayor in Nashville, Freddie O'Connell," she told the podcasters.
In fact, O'Connell has not described himself as a socialist.
Hanson claimed that Patrick showed up at a campaign event and identified himself as someone who opposes fascism.
"Meaning he's Antifa, and we knew he was Antifa from some — a group that we were working with to identify Antifa members in the community," she continued.
That description is how Hanson had portrayed her relationship with the white supremacists.
Hanson sees conspiracy with voting machines
In addition, Hanson claimed that the voting machines were switching votes from her to Moore — a claim that election officials have already discredited.
"I didn't hear any concerns from voters or poll officials on Election Day about any concern like that," said Williamson County election administrator Chad Gray.
The county's election system allows voters to review their selection before a paper ballot is printed.
Election commissioners certified the Franklin election results on Friday.
Candidates have five days to file a petition in Chancery Court to challenge the outcome of the election.
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