House Republicans Who Backed Election Reform Bill Didn’t Seek Reelection, Lost to Trump Candidates

The nine House Republicans who joined with Democrats on Wednesday night to pass a measure to change how Congress certifies Electoral College ballots after a presidential election are either not running for reelection this year or were defeated in primaries by Trump-backed candidates.

The measure, the Presidential Election Reform Act, passed the Democrat-controlled House 229-203 and was crafted by two members of the chamber’s special committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot that disrupted Congress’ certification process.  

The members are California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel’s vice chairperson.

In addition to Cheney, the other eight House Republicans who voted for the bill were Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler, of Washington; Anthony Gonzalez, of Ohio; Tom Rice, of South Carolina; Peter Meijer and Fred Upton, both of Michigan; Chris Jacobs and John Katko, both of New York; and Illinois’ Adam Kinzinger – the only other Republican besides Cheney on the special committee.

The bill reforms the 1887 Electoral Count Act and in part reaffirms the vice president’s role in certifying the Electoral College results is simply procedural. It also makes it more difficult to object to a state’s electors.

Beutler, Cheney, Herrera, Meijer and Rice lost their reelection primaries to challengers backed by former President Trump. Gonzalez, Jacobs, Katko, Kinzinger and Upton have announced their retirement from the House.  

Except for Jacobs, all of them voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 riot.