Here is the simplest promise a member of Congress can make a week before an election: if the voters pick someone else, I'll let that person take their seat.
CalMatters asked all eight California Republicans in the House, plus Kevin Kiley, the one independent who caucuses with them, whether they had made it. Most of them wouldn't say.
- Jay Obernolte's spokesperson, asked whether he had signed, said: "I can't answer that."
- Ken Calvert, Tom McClintock, David Valadao and James Gallagher did not respond.
Only one of them said yes — Kevin Kiley, the Republican-turned-independent from the Rocklin area. "When the election's over, we should get things certified and get started on the important work Congress has to do," he told CalMatters.
What the pledge says
The pledge comes from two House members, one from each party: Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska and Democrat Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. Signers promise to oppose "efforts to undermine free and fair elections or override the will of the voters," and to recognize the winners each state certifies under its own law.
The worry behind it is specific. According to NPR, the fear is that Republicans, "spurred on by President Trump, would point to allegations of election fraud" and "seek to block certain House members from being added to the chamber's roll on Jan. 3, 2027" — the day the new Congress is sworn in. If Democrats win the House narrowly, refusing to seat a handful of them could keep the majority from changing hands.
Bacon, a Republican, explained it this way to the Wall Street Journal, as NPR reported: "it's important to put down a clear, bipartisan marker that we follow state certifications, seat certified winners and preserve trust in the institution."
This is not a hard ask. Two Republicans in swing seats, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Lawler of New York, told NPR they were signing on. Gottheimer has said 17 members of both parties have signed, without naming them.
Why it matters that they won't answer
The question isn't hypothetical, and California knows it better than any state.
Trump's Justice Department is already working to stop California from counting ballots in this election. It handed Los Angeles County a password-protected thumb drive of supposed noncitizen voters and gave the state 48 hours to stop counting their ballots, without explaining who was on it. Then it sent federal agents to arrest Californians over their voter registrations fifteen days before the election — 28 cases out of 23 million voters. NPR notes Trump "has long claimed baselessly that Democrats cheat to win elections," and in May said he would do "anything necessary" to ensure "honest" elections.
That is the setting in which California's Republicans were asked a yes-or-no question and not one of them gave a yes.
Two of them have done this before
For two of the five, we don't have to guess what they'd do. We know what they did last time.
On the night of January 6, 2021 — hours after a mob stormed the Capitol — Ken Calvert and Jay Obernolte both voted to reject the electoral votes of Arizona and then of Pennsylvania. Both votes failed. A week later, both voted against impeaching Trump for inciting the attack.
Obernolte had laid the groundwork before he was even sworn in. As a member-elect in December 2020, he signed a letter urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi to "initiate a thorough investigation into these voting irregularities." His office's answer on whether he'll seat the winners of next week's election was "I can't answer that."
Calvert is one of nine Republicans on this year's ballot whom Capital & Main profiled for having backed Trump's push to overturn the 2020 election. In December 2020 he also signed a Supreme Court brief backing a Texas lawsuit that asked the justices to throw out four states' results.
The other three
Tom McClintock voted the other way on January 6. He voted against both objections, on Arizona and on Pennsylvania, though a month earlier he had signed the same Supreme Court brief as Calvert. That makes his silence now harder to explain, not easier. A member who voted to let the states' certifications stand has nothing to lose by saying so in writing.
David Valadao was one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after January 6. He has spent the fall running ads promising to protect Medicaid after voting to cut it. On whether he'll seat whoever voters choose, he didn't respond.
James Gallagher is the newest of the group. He won a special election for California's 1st District in June after the death of Doug LaMalfa. He didn't respond either.
A spokesperson for Darrell Issa, of the San Diego area, also answered without saying whether Issa signed. Vince Fong's office said he was unavailable because he and his wife had a baby the week before. Young Kim's office said she hadn't seen the pledge but "will seat new members."
What the record shows
CalMatters asked California's Republicans in Congress a yes-or-no question: did you sign a pledge to accept next week's election results and seat the certified winners? Jay Obernolte's office said "I can't answer that," and Ken Calvert, Tom McClintock, David Valadao and James Gallagher did not respond. Calvert and Obernolte voted on the night of January 6, 2021, to reject Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes, and Trump's Justice Department is already trying to stop California from counting some of this year's ballots.
