Elder, the leading Republican candidate to replace Newsom if the recall is successful, made the comments shortly after he voted for himself in Los Angeles County. He said he believes the “shenanigans” would be similar to those that happened during the 2020 election, in which President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump. There was no evidence of widespread election fraud in that election.

“What I believe is that no matter what they do — and I believe that there might very well be shenanigans, as it were in the 2020 election — no matter what they do, so many Californians are angry about what’s going on” that he will win anyway, Elder said, citing anger around crime, homelessness and quality of public education.

More than 6 million ballots have been cast as of Wednesday in the California recall election, according to the election tracking firm Political Data Inc. The firm said Wednesday that 53% of the 6.4 million ballots returned so far have come from Democrats, while Republicans have returned 25% of the ballots. Republican operatives believe their supporters, in part because of attacks on mail-in voting around the 2020 election, will be more likely to vote in person.