Finish What We Started

An explosive, behind-the-scenes look at how lies and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election turned into a nationwide plot to compromise the electoral system, precinct by precinct, jeopardizing all elections to come. The biggest threat to democracy going forward may not be coming out of Washington, but at the local level, across the country.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack on the Capitol of January 6, 2021, a growing movement of grassroots activists began plotting around the country to pick up where the insurrection left off, laying the groundwork to succeed next time where Donald Trump had failed to keep himself in power. Inspired by Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, this nationwide groundswell quickly moved beyond rhetoric and into action. Election deniers began capturing local party committees, elevating like-minded insurgents, and developing a new way forward: to ensure, against all odds, that only their preferred candidates will win elections, now and in the future. 
 
Washington Post national political reporter Isaac Arnsdorf has been at the forefront of reporting on this growing movement for the past two years. In September 2021, for ProPublica, he broke the news of the “Precinct Strategy,” revealing how the stolen election myth inspired thousands of Republicans to flood the party apparatus at the bottom rungs and use their positions to influence future elections. While journalists across mainstream media have covered different aspects of far-right politics, from the focus on “critical race theory” to the buildup of white militias, Finish What We Started​ will tell the story of the men and women who are driving this change, the leaders who are manipulating them, and those who are struggling to restrain the relentless misinformation and violent rhetoric. 
 
Shocking, alarming, and full of breaking news, Finish What We Started is the definitive story of how the insurgents will distort the most sacred institution of democracy: the electoral system itself.