WASHINGTON — Republican candidates in the upcoming US midterms will accept the results regardless of whether they win or lose, the party's chairwoman assured Sunday, as Donald Trump's camp faces scrutiny over election denialism.

Ronna McDaniel also said she believes Republicans have "good momentum" for winning back both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Tuesday's vote—which would severely hamper President Joe Biden's agenda for the second half of his term.

Speaking about the election process to CNN's "State of the Union" show, McDaniel said Republicans "want to make sure it's run fair and transparently and then we'll let the process play out, and then we'll accept the results."

Asked directly whether every Republican candidate will accept the results even if they lose, McDaniel responded: "They will."

Trump—the Republican Party's figurehead who has yet to concede his loss to Biden two years ago—has been doubling down on voting conspiracy theories in the run-up to the midterms.

Several hundred Republicans seeking office next week have endorsed Trump's baseless claims of fraud in 2020—and a number are casting doubt on the upcoming result as well, in contrast with McDaniel's comments.

Kari Lake, the party's far-right candidate for governor in Arizona, for example has refused to say whether she would honor the results.

Asked by CNN last month if she would accept the outcome of her race, which polls show is a toss-up, she said: "I'm going to win the election, and I will accept that result."

Earlier this week Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, seeking re-election against Democrat Mandela Barnes, declined to say whether he would accept the results.

"We'll see what happens," the Republican senator said, according to The Washington Post, adding: "Is something going to happen on Election Day? Do Democrats have something up their sleeves?"

The presence of Republican election deniers on the ballot—more than 300 according to analysts—has fueled fears of a chaotic and drawn-out aftermath to the vote.

Highlighting the tense climate, a judge in Arizona recently imposed limits on self-declared election monitors who have appeared near ballot drop boxes carrying guns and wearing tactical gear.

Pressed on her party's support for self-appointed poll watchers, McDaniel said "nobody should be intimidating the voters," and urged election monitors to "not break the law."

But she also defended the legal monitoring practice as a way to "meaningfully observe" the election process—and said poll watchers should be free from intimidation. — Agence France-Presse