Do voters penalize undemocratic candidates? Political scientists often question whether the electorate serves as an effective democratic check or instead prioritizes partisan preferences over democratic preservation. Existing literature fails to consider that voters will more severely penalize undemocratic candidates if they believe that the enumerated powers of the office could be more easily used to subvert democracy. A democracy-preserving electorate will selectively penalize election-denying candidates for state offices that influence electoral rules and administration (Governor; Attorney General; Secretary of State). I find that election-denying candidates for state office incurred a 4.3 percentage point penalty in two-party vote share relative to non-denying co-partisans. Republican election deniers were significantly less likely to be elected to state office. Republican congressional candidates who similarly denied or questioned the 2020 election were not penalized. The penalty against election denial exceeds estimated measures of incumbency advantage and may dissuade future candidates from campaigning against democratic institutions.