In summary
Republicans in California’s Congress have not signed a pledge to respect the results of the midterm elections.
Will President Donald Trump’s Republican MAGA allies in Congress try to block newly elected Democrats from their seats after the midterms by claiming the election was rigged?
That concern prompted two bipartisan lawmakers to urge their congressional colleagues to sign a pledge promising to accept the results of the midterm elections.
As Trump and his allies aggressively push claims of widespread voter fraud, its perpetrators hope to avoid a scenario similar to Trump’s pressure on congressional Republicans not to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory. That sparked the deadly U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
California’s current congressional delegation has eight Republicans and one independent serving with them.
Only one, Rep. Kevin Kiley, the Republican-turned-independent representing the Rocklin area, signed it.
“Once the election is over, we should get things certified and begin the important work that Congress needs to do,” Kiley said, adding that he would accept the results if he loses his race to Dr. Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat who is running against Kiley in a new Democratic-leaning district.
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Rep. Young Kim, who represents the Anaheim area, hasn’t seen the pledge, but she “will welcome new members,” said her spokeswoman, Ellie Gilchrist.
“I can’t answer that,” said Natalia Jovovich, a spokeswoman for Rep. Jay Obernolte, when asked if the Republican representing the Hesperia area had signed the pledge.
Bakersfield-area Rep. Vince Fong and his wife welcomed a baby last week. Fong was therefore not available to comment on whether he would welcome new members of Congress, his spokesman, Ryan Gardiner, said in a text message.
Jonathan Wilcox, a spokesman for San Diego Rep. Darrell Issa, responded to CalMatters’ request but did not say whether Issa signed the pledge.
Spokespeople for California’s other Republican U.S. Representatives — Ken Calvert, James Gallagher, Tom McClintock and David Valadao — did not respond to CalMatters.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the pledge drafted by Reps. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, and Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey.
After this article was published Tuesday, Gottheimer’s office provided CalMatters with the letter and its 17 signatories. Two Republicans — Reps. Mike Lawler of New York and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania — had signed it.
Five California Democrats – Representatives Jim Costa, Salud Carbajal, Jimmy Panetta, Gil Cisneros, Jr. and Mike Thompson – also signed it.
What does the commitment say?
The signatories pledge to oppose “efforts to undermine free and fair elections or to override the will of voters, including any attempt to deny or delay the allocation of seats to any elected Member of Parliament who presents a validly issued certificate of election.”
The signatories also agree to recognize “election winners certified by each State in accordance with the law of that State.”
Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House of Representatives through November, so even a small number of Republicans who stick to their pledge could block a far-right effort to unseat the new Democrats after the midterms.
The letter comes as federal investigators aggressively try to validate Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud in Democratic-controlled states, including California.
Federal agents have arrested a few dozen people across the country in recent weeks for allegedly voting illegally, but so far they have not found evidence of a widespread conspiracy that Trump has said for years was rigging elections in favor of Democrats.
Heritage Foundation pushes Congress
The Heritage Foundation, an influential think tank in Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, argued in April that Congress had the power to investigate elections its members deemed fraudulent.
“Congress can detect fraudulent votes of all kinds – not just those of non-citizens,” wrote Scott Yenor, a senior researcher at the foundation. “Congress can then declare the election invalid and order a new election if it finds the election fraudulent. »
Earlier this month, WNYC, a New York public radio station, asked Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA, about a scenario in which Republican leaders might try to block new members on Jan. 3, when they are supposed to be sworn in.
“It would be profoundly undemocratic if that happened,” Hasen told the station, but added that it was unlikely.
“If the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives and somehow on January 3 someone tries this kind of maneuver, it will cause a massive public backlash,” he said. “It just seems very far-fetched.”
Given what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, the pledge’s authors believe it’s better to be safe than sorry, Gottheimer told NPR in an interview earlier this month.
“Because we’ve been through this,” Gottheimer said, “I think it’s really important that we close, once again, any opportunity to those who want to stop the will of the people.”
