- The Washington Post surveyed 19 of the most competitive races across the country.
- 12 GOP candidates declined to say whether they would accept the results of the midterm elections.
Twelve Republican candidates running for November's midterms declined to say whether they would accept their election results, according to a survey from The Washington Post.
The Post surveyed candidates in 19 of the most competitive races across the country, asking: "Will you accept the results of your election?"
Only seven GOP nominees said they would accept the outcomes of their races, while another 12 either refused to commit or didn't respond.
Out of the 19 Democratic candidates asked, eighteen said they would accept the outcome. Kansas incumbent Gov. Laura Kelly, who is in a tight race against Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt, was the only Democrat who did not answer. Schmidt declined as well.
One of the seven Republicans who said they would accept a loss was Joe O'Dea, who is running for a Senate seat in Colorado.
"There's no polite way to put it. We have become a nation of poor sports and cry babies," O'Dea told The Post. "We'll keep a close eye on things, but after the process is done and the votes are counted, I'll absolutely accept the outcome."
O'Dea suggested he and his opponent, Sen. Michael Bennet, could certify the results over beers. "It's time for America's leaders to start acting like adults again," O'Dea added: "Loser buys."
O'Dea is a construction company executive and first-time candidate who won his primary in June. He's running as a center-right candidate and has been endorsed by former Colorado senator Hank Brown. In an interview last month, O'Dea said he hopes Donald Trump will not run for president again. Trump has continued to assert the 2020 election was stolen from him even though there is no evidence to support the claim.
A recent poll found that of the 529 Republican nominees running for office in this year's election, 196 denied the 2020 election results. One of those nominees is Trump-backed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who also did not respond to The Post's survey.