Democrats, Stop Helping Pro-Trump Republicans

The DCCC’s intention in Michigan and elsewhere is as twisted as it is transparent: to advance a Republican opponent who will be easier for a Democrat to defeat in the November general election. This is politics at its most cynical.

As a Democratic congressman who won multiple elections in a Republican-leaning district, I worked closely with the DCCC. Although I didn’t always agree with its policy recommendations, I valued its role in lending resources and insight. Let me offer some advice in return: Promoting Trump acolytes in Republican primaries is a deeply flawed strategy. The DCCC needs to stop elevating candidates who deny the 2020 election results and propagate dangerous lies about our democracy.

The Democratic Party—which has also deployed this shady scheme in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania—is playing with fire. Democrats have rightly made protecting democracy a national issue. But cynically propping up enemies of democracy undercuts this message. It makes it harder for Democrats to criticize candidates such as

Mark Finchem,

the Republican nominee for secretary of state in Arizona, whose election-denying platform is a direct threat to fair elections there.

By helping to extend the candidacies of Republican election deniers until November, Democrats give them additional months of attention and airtime to amplify support for their destructive conspiracy theories. Even if Mr. Gibbs loses on Election Day, his primary win increases the visibility of his platform. While Messrs. Gibbs and Trump team up to raise money off their fabrications, in Michigan—a 2024 battleground state—trust in democracy will continue to erode.

Some might say that all is fair in love and war—that to protect a jeopardized majority, the DCCC should be as machiavellian as necessary. Politics is a contact sport, they say. Republicans do it. Democrats should too.

Yet there are bright lines in politics. One is lying about election results and corroding Americans’ long-held belief in the peaceful transfer of power. It is risky and unethical to promote any candidate whose campaign is based on lies about our elections. Democrats shouldn’t support short-term tactics that fuel the fire set by Mr. Trump.

Democracy is fragile, but I remain optimistic. In Congress, a bipartisan coalition is working to reform the archaic Electoral Count Act of 1887 and prevent future attempts to overturn the will of the people. In recent months, other bipartisan bills have passed that will better protect children from gun violence, invest in microchip plants vital to national security, and build a 21st-century infrastructure that will help the U.S. compete with China.

Democrats can and should fiercely compete in elections with Republicans, but embracing a strategy to elevate the worst among them could backfire. Instead, the DCCC should tell voters a powerful story that happens to be true: An energetic and effective Democratic Congress is accomplishing important victories. It’s time for the party to put its money where its principles and priorities are and inspire trust in our working democracy.

Mr. Roemer, a Democrat, served as a U.S. representative from Indiana (1991-2003) and U.S. ambassador to India (2009-11). He is a co-chairman of Issue One’s ReFormers Caucus, a bipartisan group of former officials.