147 Republican lawmakers still objected to the election results after the Capitol attack

While the majority of lawmakers voted to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory on Wednesday, a staggering number of House Republicans — as well as several senators — chose to maintain their objections.

In a vote Wednesday evening, six Republicans in the Senate and 121 in the House backed objections to certifying Arizona’s electoral outcome, while seven Senate Republicans and 138 House Republicans supported an objection to certifying Pennsylvania’s electoral outcome. (We’ve included a full list at the end of this article.)

It was a somewhat surprising result following the violence and destruction by President Donald Trump’s supporters at the Capitol earlier that day, which prompted a number of Republicans to drop their previous challenges.

The lawmakers who upheld these objections, however, did so even though they were unfounded, won’t be going anywhere, and further amplify lies about a rigged election. Neither objection obtained a majority of votes in either chamber, and both failed.

Those who voted to challenge the results argued that they were representing concerns brought by constituents and legal questions that had been raised about the state’s election process. “This is the appropriate place for these concerns to be raised,” Hawley said in a floor speech, while speaking about Pennsylvania’s election laws.

Their decisions to make these objections suggest that some are still shockingly comfortable undermining the democratic process even after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol to contest the validity of the election results.

It’s an attack that Republican lawmakers’ actions helped stoke, given their willingness to support Trump’s repeated, unproven claims about a fraudulent election.

There were some Republican reversals

Originally, about 14 Senate Republicans and roughly 140 House Republicans had planned to vote in favor of the objections, meaning some lawmakers did change their votes after the attack on the Capitol on Wednesday.

Those who did so have said they want to emphasize the legitimacy of Biden’s victory and to repudiate the violence that was perpetrated.

“I cannot now in good conscience object to the certification of these electors,” Sen. Kelly Loeffler said in a floor speech. “The violence, the lawlessness and siege of the halls of Congress are abhorrent and stand as a direct attack on the very institution my objection was intended to protect: the sanctity of the American democratic process.”

Others who reversed their positions included Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT) and James Lankford (R-OK), and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA).

But these shifts came late: While they do send a message about the election outcome, they don’t obscure the role that many of these lawmakers also played in fueling the same doubts that led to rioters’ assault on the Capitol.

For months, Trump — and many of his Republican allies — have questioned the election results, and in doing so, they contributed to immense distrust of the outcome among both his core supporters and Republicans overall. (According to a November Vox/Data for Progress poll, 73 percent of Republicans questioned Biden’s win.)

Congress members’ plans to object to certain states’ election results only amplified this message. And those who wouldn’t change that position, in particular, seemed to completely ignore the stakes of their actions.

Here’s the full list of members of the Senate and House who objected to Arizona’s or Pennsylvania’s results (or both).

Senators who objected

Ted Cruz (TX)
Josh Hawley (MO)
Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS)
Cynthia Lummis (WY)
John Kennedy (LA)
Roger Marshall (KS)
Rick Scott (FL)
Tommy Tuberville (AL)

House members who objected

Robert Aderholt (AL)
Rick Allen (GA)
Jodey Arrington (TX)
Brian Babin (TX)
Jim Baird (IN)
Jim Banks (IN)
Cliff Bentz (OR)
Jack Bergman (MI)
Stephanie Bice (OK)
Andy Biggs (AZ)
Dan Bishop (NC)
Lauren Boebert (CO)
Mike Bost (IL)
Mo Brooks (AL)
Ted Budd (NC)
Tim Burchett (TN)
Michael Burgess (TX)
Ken Calvert (CA)
Kat Cammack (FL)
Jerry Carl (AL)
Buddy Carter (GA)
John Carter (TX)
Madison Cawthorn (NC)
Steve Chabot (OH)
Ben Cline (VA)
Michael Cloud (TX)
Andrew Clyde (GA)
Tom Cole (OK)
Rick Crawford (AR)
Warren Davidson (OH)
Scott DesJarlais (TN)
Mario Diaz-Balart (FL)
Byron Donalds (FL)
Jeff Duncan (SC)
Neal Dunn (FL)
Ron Estes (KS)
Pat Fallon (TX)
Michelle Fischbach (MN)
Scott Fitzgerald (WI)
Chuck Fleischmann (TN)
Virginia Foxx (NC)
Scott Franklin (FL)
Russ Fulcher (ID)
Matt Gaetz (FL)
Mike Garcia (CA)
Bob Gibbs (OH)
Carlos Gimenez (FL)
Louie Gohmert (TX)
Bob Good (VA)
Lance Gooden (TX)
Paul Gosar (AZ)
Garret Graves (LA)
Sam Graves (MO)
Mark Green (TN)
Marjorie Greene (GA)
Morgan Griffith (VA)
Michael Guest (MS)
Jim Hagedorn (MN)
Andy Harris (MD)
Diana Harshbarger (TN)
Vicky Hartzler (MO)
Kevin Hern (OK)
Yvette Herrell (NM)
Jody Hice (GA)
Clay Higgins (LA)
Richard Hudson (NC)
Darrell Issa (CA)
Ronny Jackson (TX)
Chris Jacobs (NY)
Mike Johnson (LA)
Bill Johnson (OH)
Jim Jordan (OH)
John Joyce (PA)
Fred Keller (PA)
Trent Kelly (MS)
Mike Kelly (PA)
David Kustoff (TN)
Doug LaMalfa (CA)
Doug Lamborn (CO)
Jacob LaTurner (KS)
Debbie Lesko (AZ)
Billy Long (MO)
Barry Loudermilk (GA)
Frank Lucas (OK)
Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO)
Nicole Malliotakis (NY)
Tracey Mann (KS)
Brian Mast (FL)
Kevin McCarthy (CA)
Lisa McClain (MI)
Daniel Meuser (PA)
Mary Miller (IL)
Carol Miller (WV)
Alex Mooney (WV)
Barry Moore (AL)
Markwayne Mullin (OK)
Gregory Murphy (NC)
Troy Nehls (TX)
Ralph Norman (SC)
Devin Nunes (CA)
Jay Obernolte (CA)
Burgess Owens (UT)
Steven Palazzo (MS)
Gary Palmer (AL)
Greg Pence (IN)
Scott Perry (PA)
August Pfluger (TX)
Bill Posey (FL)
Guy Reschenthaler (PA)
Tom Rice (SC)
Mike Rogers (AL)
Hal Rogers (KY)
John Rose (TN)
Matt Rosendale (MT)
David Rouzer (NC)
John Rutherford (FL)
Steve Scalise (LA)
David Schweikert (AZ)
Pete Sessions (TX)
Jason Smith (MO)
Adrian Smith (NE)
Lloyd Smucker (PA)
Elise Stefanik (NY)
Greg Steube (FL)
Chris Stewart (UT)
Glenn Thompson (PA)
Tom Tiffany (WI)
William Timmons (SC)
Jefferson Van Drew (NJ)
Beth Van Duyne (TX)
Tim Walberg (MI)
Jackie Walorski (IN)
Randy Weber (TX)
Daniel Webster (FL)
Roger Williams (TX)
Joe Wilson (SC)
Rob Wittman (VA)
Ron Wright (TX)
Lee Zeldin (NY)

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