I tried asking ChatGPT if the Republicans have done something similar to this like the Dems are now claiming. It found one example, in an early primary that could not in any way be tied to the leadership of the republican party or anyone tied to the primary candidate.
Story from Florida in 2020, with arrest of Republican operative
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: In Florida and some other states, recruiting ghost or shadow candidates is a well-known political strategy. Katherine Rundle, the state attorney in Miami-Dade County, has seen it before.
4 comments
[ 0.27 ms ] story [ 5.9 ms ] threadSo, quite a different beast.
Edit: It was in 2012.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: In Florida and some other states, recruiting ghost or shadow candidates is a well-known political strategy. Katherine Rundle, the state attorney in Miami-Dade County, has seen it before.
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/979340075