Former Nevada state Rep. Jim Marchant, a Republican who has spread the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and said he would not have certified the results, won the GOP secretary of state primary Tuesday night, putting an election denier one step away from overseeing elections in the key swing state.

The Associated Press declared Marchant the winner early Wednesday morning. He won 38% of the vote in the crowded field that featured seven candidates. Kristoph Dahir, a Republican who countered Marchants fraud claims and defended Nevadas 2020 election, finished with just 6.4% of the vote. Marchant will face attorney and former Nevada state athletic commissioner Francisco Aguilar in November. Aguilar ran uncontested in the Democratic primary.

Marchants full embrace of the big lie about the 2020 election won him President Donald Trump s endorsement, which made him the apparent favorite in a crowded race to replace outgoing Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske (R), who is term-limited.

Cegavske defended Nevadas elections in the wake of the 2020 vote and certified the results of President Joe Biden s victory in the state despite Trumps claims that widespread fraud had marred the results there and in other closely contested states.