Byron Donalds embraces President Donald Trump at a 2019 conference.
Dec. 31, 2020 by David Silverberg
Rep.-Elect Byron Donalds (R-19-Fla.) has announced that once sworn in as congressman, he will vote to decertify the results of the 2020 election.
Donalds made the announcement in a tweet at 12:42 pm today.
“Every Floridian and American deserves to believe that our elections result from a transparent and lawful democratic process,” he stated. “I will object to the certification process on January 6th and will ask legitimate questions to restore faith in our election system.” (Full statement below.)
Donalds and the rest of the 117th Congress are due to be sworn in next Wednesday, the same day the House of Representatives and the Senate are scheduled to certify the votes of the Electoral College in all the states, which established that President-Elect Joe Biden (D) had won the election. All legal challenges to the election results have been quashed in the courts.
To the best of this author’s ability to determine, Donalds is the first prospective House member to publicly state this position. In the Senate, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has stated he will challenge the election, opening the prospect of a debate and contested vote despite Republican leadership reluctance to spark the fight.
Democrat Cindy Banyai, who ran against Donalds in the 2020 congressional election, was critical of his position.
“It’s so unfortunate that Southwest Florida will soon have a congressional representative who values our democratic processes so little that he’s willing to participate in this theater of the absurd,” she stated in a message to The Paradise Progressive. “It’s particularly hypocritical of Donalds to vote to decertify an election where he won office, especially with an outstanding FBI investigation into election interference because of the primary day texts and an active [Federal Elections Commission] complaint with evidence that he violated the straw donor ban to the tune of several hundreds of thousands of dollars. I wish he was more concerned with serving the people of our district than his political master.”
Full statement:
“On behalf of the people of Florida's 19th Congressional District who elected me to serve them in Congress, I will object to the certification process on January 6th and will ask legitimate questions to restore faith in our election system. Unlike my Democratic colleagues, I refuse to turn a blind eye to the fact that several states, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, neglected the oath of their constitution and the United States Constitution by their failure to follow their election laws.
“Democrats in Congress seem to have lost their devotion to election integrity and security, but make no mistake, I will not waiver. A free and fair election is key to protecting our Constitutional Republic. Every Floridian and American deserves to believe that our elections result from a transparent and lawful democratic process. For this reason, I cannot in good faith vote to support the certification of the Electoral College results on January 6th.”
Rep.-Elect Byron Donalds
Liberty lives in light
© 2020 by David Silverberg