RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – State Sen. Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) says she will pursue a legal challenge against the results of the Republican primary for the Virginia Senate’s 12th District after losing out to Glen Sturtevant.

Sen. Chase, who has embraced and repeated baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen,” issued a statement the day after The Associated Press called the three-way primary election for Sturtevant.

She is disputing votes cast during Virginia’s early-voting window, claiming they were made on computers that don’t comply with state law.

“We’re not asking for a recount. A recount won’t correct the problem. We will never know for sure if there were bad actors in the early voting certification process,” Chase’s statement read. “We’re asking for those who acted illegally to be held accountable for their unethical actions during early voting.”

Chase, who said in her statement that she is seeking legal counsel, claimed that Sturtevant’s campaign manager “was illegally chosen as the sole Republican to certify early voting machines during early voting.”

Chase, who has described herself as “Trump in heels,” unsuccessfully ran to be the Republican nominee in the 2021 governor’s race.

She was censured by the state Senate in 2021 after voicing support for Jan. 6 rioters and making baseless election fraud claims, even proposing a $70 million state-funded audit of the 2020 presidential election in Virginia that Joe Biden handily won over then-President Donald Trump.

Chase has continued to deny the results of the 2020 presidential election and even claimed to have evidence showing how Democrats were “cheating” ahead of the 2021 gubernatorial election. Despite the accusations, Chase has not released any proof publicly. 

Election results in Virginia are not finalized until certified by the State Board of Elections.

According to preliminary results from the Virginia Department of Elections, Sturtevant received 8,515 votes to Chase’s 8,169. The third candidate, Republican Tina Ramirez, received 4,892 votes.

On Tuesday’s primary day, Sturtevant got 6,253 votes and Chase received 6,668, a 415-vote advantage for Chase. Sturtevant had 1,420 early votes cast for him and Chase had 1,085, equaling to a 335-vote advantage in early votes. He received 842 mail-in votes and Chase got 416, a 426-vote margin for Sturtevant.

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