Elections administrator in Texas county Trump won resigns after campaign to oust her

A veteran Texas elections administrator submitted her resignation on Friday after a months-long effort in her county to oust her following baseless allegations of election fraud.

Michele Carew resigned after she became the face of what some people in Hood County viewed as a fraudulent electoral system, according to The Texas Tribune. 

Carew’s critics attempted to replace the elections administrator, claiming she had a hidden liberal agenda and violated state elections law. The Texas secretary of state confirmed that Carew, who had 14 years of experience in the field, was abiding by the state’s rules, the Tribune noted.

Yet efforts continued to replace Carew with an elected county clerk who has publicly spread baseless allegations of election fraud on social media, the Tribune reported. 

In Hood County, former President Trump won 81 percent of the vote in last year’s election. Most demands for audits of election results elsewhere in the county have come from counties won by President Biden, especially if Trump won them in 2016, per the Tribune. 

“When I started out, election administrators were appreciated and highly respected,” Carew said to the Tribune. “Now we are made out to be the bad guys.”

Carew will oversee her final election next month before leaving her role on Nov. 12. After her departure, the Tribune added that she plans to move to a private company that consults local elections administrator offices to help them run more efficiently. 

“She is not the first and won’t be the last professional election official to have to leave this profession because of the toll it is taking, the bullies and liars who are slandering these professionals,” David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said of Carew’s departure to the Tribune. 

“I’m leaving on my own accord,” Carew said to the Tribune. “I’m the one who wins in the end.”

The Hill has reached out to Carew and Hood County’s Elections and Voter Registration Office for comment.