During a different episode in March 2021, Al Bedrosian also suggested Democrats had abandoned policymaking to attract votes — and instead were relying on election fraud to win elections.

Bedrosian offered no evidence in the podcasts to support either statement. And he’s not talking about them now.

The ex-Roanoke County supervisor joined the Roanoke City Electoral Board Jan. 1. He made the above comments during separate episodes of a short-lived 2021 podcast, “U Can’t Say That!” The shows feature Bedrosian and Greg Aldridge, who once led the now-defunct Roanoke Tea Party.

Twelve episodes, including an otherwise undated 2020 version labeled “pilot,” are still available for viewing on the News Guardians YouTube channel. At least one episode has been taken down and made “private.”

I’ve watched all the still-public ones. For the most part, Bedrosian comes across as the better-grounded speaker, as they bandy over a wide range of different topics. Overall, they spend a tiny fraction of show time discussing the 2020 election or election fraud.

The first instance was during a January 26, 2021 episode, at 14:36, when Bedrosian said:

“In years past, I think there have been a lot of elections that have been frauded elections. They just put [in] the person they want. Never before in the history of America do I remember seeing a million people come to Washington because they are not happy about the fraud.

“Not that anything was done, because it just seemed, like pushed over,” Bedrosian said. “But we are not dumb anymore. Our eyes are open to an extent.”

When asked about that comment last week, Bedrosian claimed he was referring to historical election fraud. As of Monday morning, that episode had garnered 58 views on YouTube.

A subsequent review of the other “U Can’t Say That!” episodes revealed that shortly after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Bedrosian said he believed Trump “actually” won the 2020 race.

That happened during the Jan. 28, 2021 podcast, beginning around the 12:14 mark. Bedrosian’s comments followed a suggestion by Aldridge that Democrats had more or less scapegoated Trump into losing the election. Bedrosian disagreed.

“I’m not going with the fact that, uh, that he [Trump] was the reason he lost. I think he won, actually. Can I say that? I can say that, right? I can say that on this show,” Bedrosian said.

“I think, I think he probably won by millions of votes,” Bedrosian said, adding emphasis to “millions.” So I think it’s a ru-, I think we’re seeing stuff not clearly.”

At that point, Aldridge interjects: “Oh, sure, and we’re never gonna know what the actual, legal, legitimate outcome of last year’s election is.”

Bedrosian agrees and adds: “We won’t know.”

Moments later in that conversation, at 13:10, Bedrosian mused about getting involved in local election-administration.

“I’d be very interested in this whole registrar’s office thing and how you really stay more on top of that even in a place like Roanoke City, Roanoke County, Salem,” Bedrosian said. (As of Monday, that episode had garnered 126 views on YouTube.)

On the March 9 podcast, Bedrosian suggested Democrats had abandoned trying to attract votes through policymaking, and were instead relying on election fraud to maintain political power. Here are his words, which begin at 39:06 in the YouTube video:

“I guess, there was a time when you needed some kind of policy at the end of the day that was good for the average person, because when it comes time to vote, that person looks at his pocketbook and starts voting for the one that helped them the most.

“But it seems now, if also combined with what you’re saying, you also fix the elections, and you have, uh, sketchy if not total fraud in elections, you don’t even need any of your policies to really work anymore. You just do them, and when election time comes around you still win, because who knows if the votes were real or not?

“And the Democrat wins again and everybody says ‘Oh, I guess they were doing a good job,’ even though everyone starts suffering from the policies.” (As of Monday, that episode had 28 views.)

Bedrosian has not returned phone calls, texts or an email from this newspaper regarding the Jan. 28 and March 9 podcasts. Besides detailing quotes from the podcasts, the email included links to the videos and time stamps for the remarks in question.

Among the questions I posed in the email was whether Bedrosian currently believes Trump won the 2020 election, and if so, by how many millions of votes. I also asked Bedrosian whether his views on the 2020 outcome fueled his desire to serve on the board.

Each county and independent city in Virginia has its own three-person electoral board. Appointed members serve staggered three-year terms, so that one member’s term concludes each year. Under state law, the boards are organized according to which political party holds the governor’s office.

When it’s a Democrat, Democrats occupy two of the three seats on each electoral board. When the governor’s a Republican, Republicans get two of the board seats.

But the changeover doesn’t typically occur until the January following a new governor’s inauguration. It usually happens after one board member’s term expires at the end of the inaugural year. The replacement must be from the same political party as the governor.

Control of electoral boards across the state flipped from Democrats to Republicans on Jan. 1, when Democrats rotating off the boards were replaced by Republican appointees.

Before the flip, the Roanoke City Electoral Board was composed of Chair Sharon Lazar, a Democrat, Anna Goltz, also a Democrat, and Charles Shell, a Republican. Goltz’s term expired Dec. 31, and because of Youngkin’s election, state law required she be replaced by a Republican.

Charlie Nave, who chairs Roanoke’s Republican Committee, nominated three Republicans to fill the seat in a Dec. 15 letter to the judges of Roanoke’s Circuit Court. The first nominee was Bedrosian. “I highly recommend Al Bedrosian,” Nave wrote.

The other two Republican nominees were Maynard Keller, who ran for The Roanoke City Council in November (but lost) and Paulette Lawson. “I am also pleased to recommend Maynard Keller and Paulette Lawson for your consideration,” Nave wrote in that letter.

Chief Circuit Judge Chris Clemens appointed Bedrosian Dec. 20. It’s customary for the chief judge to follow party leaders’ recommendations.

Also in December, Lazar announced her resignation with one year left in her term. She said she resigned because it was getting more difficult for her to do the physical work a seat on the board requires.

Her husband, Roanoke Democratic Chair Mark Lazar, recommended in a letter to the court that Goltz be appointed to fill the year remaining on his wife’s term. Clemens made that appointment as well.

It’s unclear whether Nave knew of Bedrosian’s perspectives about election fraud and the 2020 outcome at the time Nave nominated Bedrosian. Nave hasn’t responded to a voice message left at his law office, or two emails sent there.

Among questions I posed in the emails were why Nave promoted Bedrosian’s appointment over Keller and Lawson, and whether Nave was aware of Bedrosian’s 2020 election views at the time he recommended the appointment.

Although the all-Democrat Roanoke City Council has no power to alter Electoral Board appointments, its members have taken notice of Bedrosian’s.

Last week I read the above Bedrosian quotes to Mayor Sherman Lea, who sounded surprised. Lea wondered whether Bedrosian still believes Trump won the election, or if he’s since changed his mind.

“The facts regarding the 2020 election are well known,” Lee said. “Is he still caught up in this election-theft fiasco, when it’s been proven there was nothing wrong with that election? With the Jan. 6 Committee, there was testimony from Trump’s own staff that even Trump knew he lost the election.”

Moreover, “many of the Republicans who lost in 2022 believed that Trump won,” Lea added. “Just to keep pushing that shows they haven’t learned their lesson.”

City Councilman Luke Priddy suspects more Republican election deniers have recently been appointed to electoral boards across the commonwealth, as Democratic appointees rotated off and were replaced by Republicans.

“I doubt this is unique just to the city of Roanoke, with the shift to two Republicans on each board,” he said.

Priddy also noted Bedrosian took an oath of office, which is a serious matter.

“He’s still charged with following the law and carrying it out,” Priddy said. “While Al has rather extreme views, I do like to think deep down [fair elections are] what he really wants.”

The Roanoke City Electoral Board last met Dec. 19. It hasn’t yet scheduled its first meeting of 2023. But the first meeting of the year could prove interesting.

Perhaps we’ll find out then if Al Bedrosian still believes Trump won the 2020 election.

Contact metro columnist Dan Casey at 981-3423 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter:@dancaseysblog.