Rubio, Scott, Miami Republicans silent on Electoral College challenge for Trump
The five Republicans who represent South Florida in Congress aren’t saying how they will vote Wednesday on a challenge by some members of the GOP seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in crucial swing states by objecting to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
During a joint session of Congress, at least 12 Republican U.S. senators and more than 100 House members plan to contest Electoral College votes that have already been certified by each state as President Donald Trump continues to make baseless claims about the election’s legitimacy. Thousands of his supporters are expected to protest in Washington on Wednesday. Democrats have enough votes to ensure that the effort is certain to fail.
Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott haven’t revealed their positions on the Electoral College certification ahead of the vote, even as their Senate GOP colleagues fight among each other.
Scott is “reviewing his options,” his communications director, Chris Hartline, said.
Rubio has said he won’t discuss the issue until the day of the vote.
Miami Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Carlos Gimenez and Rep.-elect Maria Elvira Salazar also haven’t said if they plan to object to the Electoral College results. None responded to a request for comment from the Miami Herald Monday, though Gimenez was asked about the issue in a CNN interview on Saturday.
“I’m not going to tell you how I’m going to vote,” Gimenez said. “I’m going to listen to the evidence presented by congressmen and senators and then I’ll make up my mind based on the evidence in front of me.“
In a TV interview on Monday, Gimenez said he is “willing to listen” to the Electoral College challenge but “there’s a very high bar to overturn that election.”
Diaz-Balart signed onto a failed court challenge last month alleging “unconstitutional irregularities” in four swing states. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, which was blasted by some Republicans as a publicity stunt.
Salazar hasn’t been sworn in yet. She missed the first day of Congress on Sunday due to a COVID-19 diagnosis during an emergency trip to the hospital on Dec. 23. She may not be a member of Congress before the Electoral College vote on Wednesday.
Members who miss the swearing-in ceremony must take the oath of office before serving, and must be sworn in at the House chamber or at a location designated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Salazar and Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond when asked if plans have been made for Salazar to be sworn in.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged Republicans in Congress not to contest the results after dozens of Trump-led court challenges have failed, but Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley bucked party leadership on Dec. 30 to announce his plan to challenge the procedural step of finalizing the results. Eleven senators led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz followed suit on Jan. 2.
Republicans have questioned vote counts in states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump himself pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat during a taped phone call on Saturday. Election results in Florida, where Trump won by 3.3%, haven’t been challenged.
The doomed-to-fail Electoral College challenge has created a rift among Republicans in Washington, as party leaders such as McConnell and House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney have urged Republicans not to call for votes that challenge the slate of electors sent to Congress and certified by the states. Some, like Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, have called out their colleagues including Hawley and Cruz.
“A fundamental, defining feature of a democratic republic is the right of the people to elect their own leaders,” Toomey said. “The effort by Sens. Hawley, Cruz and others to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in swing states like Pennsylvania directly undermines this right.”
But there isn’t much debate among Florida Republican lawmakers. Each of the state’s House members who have made their positions public plan to object to the Electoral College count, including Treasure Coast Rep. Brian Mast.
“It’s clear that Congress only intends to act when it will hurt President Trump, and I will not go along with this farce,” Mast tweeted on Sunday. “Therefore, in the absence of a congressional investigation into fraud in the 2020 presidential election, I will oppose certifying the results.”
Trump tagged Republicans who are unwilling to back the Electoral College challenge as the “surrender caucus” on Monday, continuing a weeks-long barrage of criticism of lawmakers who won’t accede to his demands.
Former Republican state Rep. and election lawyer Juan-Carlos Planas said the silence of South Florida Republicans on the challenge of the Electoral College’s legitimacy is evidence that lawmakers like Rubio are afraid of angering Trump’s base. About two dozen Trump supporters gathered outside Rubio’s West Miami home on Saturday to demand that he challenge Biden’s victory.
“I find it upsetting that folks are so self-serving that they won’t state the obvious because they won’t risk losing their seat,” said Planas, now a registered Democrat. “This is a minority clearly trying to undo the will of the majority.”
Rubio is running for reelection in 2022 while Scott will lead GOP efforts to reelect incumbent senators as National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman. Gimenez and Salazar flipped Democratic-held seats in November and are expected to draw credible opposition when they run again in 2022.
“I thought that reasonable people after the Supreme Court in the span of a weekend rejected two separate challenges ... would say it’s over,” Planas said. “At this point, I’ve given up thinking that people are going to do the right thing.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 4:13 PM.