LANSING, Mich. — Republican voters in the battleground state of Michigan aren’t ready to move past the last election, say the GOP candidates vying for an open seat in the state Senate in the next one.

In an Aug. 3 special election, seven Republicans are seeking their party’s nomination in the most GOP-leaning Senate district in Macomb County, a swing county that former President Donald Trump won twice. Most of the candidates agreed in interviews this week that election integrity was among the top issues in the primary race with the majority listing it as the main subject they’re hearing about from voters on the campaign trail.

“‘What in the hell are you doing about it?'” Rep. Doug Wozniak, a Republican, said one voter recently asked him of election security.

The primary race in the 8th state Senate district is important not only because the winner likely will be the favorite to fill one of 38 seats in the chamber but it also will provide a window into the views of Michigan GOP voters in an area that was key for Trump.

The race features two sitting state House members, Wozniak and Rep. Pamela Hornberger, a Republican, and five others, some of whom argue legislators in Lansing haven’t done enough to stand up against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and to investigate unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential vote.

“I think you need to do a better job to make sure your constituents feel they are represented,” said Terence Mekoski, another candidate in the race and the unsuccessful GOP nominee for Macomb County sheriff last year.

Five of the six candidates interviewed by The Detroit News this week said they supported a new audit of the 2020 election. Only Hornberger didn’t commit to the idea, saying it would depend on what evidence of fraud comes forward in the state.

“We already had an audit,” said Hornberger, referring to more than 200 audits performed by local election officials in Michigan.

Democrat Joe Biden beat Trump by 154,000 votes in Michigan in the 2020 election. The reviews by local election officials, a series of court rulings, bipartisan boards of canvassers and an investigation by the GOP-controlled state Senate Oversight Committee have upheld the result.

However, Mekoski said most voters he talks with in the district think there was fraud in the election. And Wozniak said the idea that there was fraud is still prevalent.

“Personally, I would like to see a full audit done,” Wozniak said. “That way, I know that I will feel confident voting for 2022.”

The 8th District seat is open after former GOP Sen. Pete Lucido was elected Macomb County’s prosecutor in November.

The winner of the GOP primary in the special election will be the favorite to claim Lucido’s old seat in November. In 2018 — a year where Democrats won at the top of the ticket in Michigan — Lucido was victorious in the 8th Senate District with 62% of the vote, defeating Democrat Paul Francis by 24 percentage points. The district includes Mount Clemens, St. Clair Shores, Harrison Township, Shelby Township and Washington Township.

Wozniak and Hornberger are viewed as the top contenders to take the GOP nomination, but those watching the race aren’t ruling out an upset amid GOP upheaval over Trump’s loss in November.

“On the ground in Macomb, they are both susceptible to an ‘outsider’ challenge and Mekoski is running hard in that lane,” said John Sellek, founder and CEO of Harbor Strategic Public Affairs. “Still, it probably comes down to the well-funded support behind Hornberger versus the endorsements of local officials Wozniak holds.”

Hornberger, who was first elected to the House in 2016, is being backed by the Michigan Freedom Fund and Great Lakes Education Project, two conservative interest groups tied to West Michigan’s DeVos family.

She’s also been endorsed by former Republican state Sens. Phil Pavlov and Jack Brandenburg. She’s a former teacher and the current speaker pro tem in the Michigan House, meaning she holds a leadership position.

In an interview Tuesday, Hornberger said she’s been knocking doors in the Senate district about five hours per day.

“No one is outworking me,” she said.

But a nonprofit called Michigan for Traditional Values, which doesn’t have to disclose its donors, sent out a mailing and set up a website criticizing Hornberger for voting against a bill in 2018 that would have required schools to submit reports on applicants about whom they found allegations of inappropriate behavior involving a minor.

The website, which is titled “Pam Hornberger the pedophile protector,” also claims that Hornberger helped Democrats “steal the election.” She said the false attack had backfired in the district.

“I have had people say, ‘I wasn’t going to vote you before. After I got this, I will vote for you,'” Hornberger said.

Wozniak, an attorney, has a built-in advantage given the fact that his entire House district is located in the Senate district while only a portion of Hornberger’s past voters will be able to support her on Aug. 3.

A former Shelby Township trustee, he’s also been endorsed by the supervisors for Bruce, Washington and Shelby townships.

Shelby Township is a very important community in the race, based on the number of GOP primary voters who live there, said Jamie Roe, a longtime Republican political consultant.

“Shelby Township is the 800-pound gorilla in that primary,” Roe said.

In the House, Wozniak has championed a proposal to increase the fee schedule that specialized, post-acute care rehabilitation equivalents can charge in helping victims of auto crashes after the 2019 overhaul of Michigan’s auto insurance laws.

“This legislation is essential to addressing the issue of fee schedule provisions, which would leave many patients with nowhere to turn, force providers to shut down, and majorly disrupt patients’ care,” Wozniak said in a statement in March.

Mekoski has worked in law enforcement for about 35 years, including 26 years with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. In 2020, he challenged Democratic Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham, losing by 12 percentage points.

He described himself as a “constitutionalist” and said election integrity and border security are the top two issues for primary voters in the district. He called for a “full forensic audit” of the 2020 election.

Likewise, Mary Berlingieri, a small business owner from Washington Township, said instilling faith in the election system is a top issue in the race. She supports a program that would check voters’ identification by scanning their driver’s licenses at polling places.

“We have to bring integrity to our election process,” she said. “Otherwise, we have nothing.”

Berlingieri unsuccessfully ran for Washington Township treasurer last year.

Another candidate in the race, Bill Carver, a truck driver from Harrison Township, said he launched his campaign because he wants to see the Legislature be more assertive in opposing Whitmer’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Likewise, Grant Golasa of Shelby Township, who is also seeking the GOP nomination, said Hornberger and Wozniak hadn’t been outspoken enough against the Democratic governor.

Golasa, a mechanical engineer, said he believes more people in the district have been discussing Whitmer’s “abuse of power” during the pandemic at their dinner tables than voter integrity.

But he plans to push for an audit if elected, he said.

“If there is nothing to hide, then everything should be released to the public,” he said.

Another Republican candidate, Kristi Dean of Shelby Township, is also running. She didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Two Democrats are running in their party’s primary: John Bill of Rochester Hills and Martin Genter of Harrison Township.

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