Former Florida elections chief, now running for Congress, won’t say Biden won

Republican congressional candidate Laurel Lee, who as former secretary of state oversaw Florida’s elections, is continuing to refuse to say whether she believes Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential race.

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Lee secretary of state in January 2019, and she served until she resigned in May to run for the new District 15 congressional seat in east Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties.

In televised interviews and responses to inquiries from the Tampa Bay Times, Lee has given similar but not conclusive answers, instead praising the validity of the Florida voting but contending that “In some states, the rules changed in the middle of the game.”

“While questions about the 2020 election will remain, the results were certified, and we must now respect our process of law that the election was legitimate,” she said via email.

Lee faces Democrat Alan Cohn Nov. 8.