Republican Party leaders hyped the rhetoric by claiming fraud and vote stealing. The judge ruled there was no evidence to support such claims. In trial, they made the accusations in opening statements but never attempted to prove their accusations. It was all hype intended for media consumption. Here is the key quote from the article:

The Republicans did not formally claim fraud until Foreman's opening statement in the trial, and Bridges ruled then that they had not met the legal requirements to key their case to fraud. But he said he would let them introduce evidence in individual misdeeds.

In any event, it didn't work.

"No evidence has been placed before the court to suggest fraud or intentional misconduct," he said Monday. "Elections officials attempted to perform their responsibilities in a fair and impartial manner."

Now, for the record, I believe it was within Rossi's rights to raise a legal challenge about the validity of so close an election. But it was utterly irresponsible of Republican Party leaders to make accusations of fraud when they had no evidence to do so.