ORLANDO, Fla. – Hours after demonstrators violently entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and halted the certification of the 2020 presidential election, Congress reconvened to continue counting electoral votes.
That night, more than 100 Republicans objected to the certification of electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania, citing irregularities in those states’ voting procedures and unconfirmed allegations of widespread voter fraud.
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South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice recently became the first known Republican to express regret for objecting to the election results, telling Politico, “In retrospect, I should have voted to certify.”
On Jan. 6, 13 Florida Congress members unsuccessfully voted to object to electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
News 6 recently submitted two questions to those Florida lawmakers:
Do you still stand behind your votes on January 6 objecting to election results in Arizona and/or Pennsylvania?
Do you believe Joe Biden unfairly won the 2020 presidential election?
Here are their responses.
Sen. Rick Scott
Florida Senator Marco Rubio did not oppose any of the states’ electors, but Senator Rick Scott did object to those from Pennsylvania. Scott did not explain his decision during the Jan. 6 debate on the Senate floor.
In response to News 6′s questions, Scott did not indicate whether he still supports his decision.
“Senator Rick Scott believes Joe Biden is the duly elected President of the United States,” the senator’s spokesperson said in a statement.
Rep. Bill Posey
Brevard County Congressman Bill Posey did not answer News 6′s questions about his votes objecting to electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
“I’m not going to play into the Democrat narrative of never-ending witch hunts against Donald Trump,” Posey told News 6. “There are too many real problems Congress should be focused on fixing.”
During the House floor debate on Jan, 6, Posey pointed out that the U.S. Constitution requires state legislatures to enact voting laws. Posey expressed his belief that non-legislators changed voting laws in Pennsylvania and other states in violation of the Constitution.
“Sadly, the FBI never investigated my request to investigate massive voting irregularity accusations, like the video footage from Georgia that we all wish we didn’t see,” Posey said on the House floor.
The congressman was presumably referring to surveillance video captured in Fulton County as election workers scanned ballots.
Trump’s campaign team claimed the video showed evidence of ballot tampering.
But on CBS’s 60 Minutes, Georgia elections official Gabriel Sterling debunked such a conspiracy theory.
“This is normal ballot-scanning processing,” Sterling told 60 Minutes. “They have this whole video. They know what happened here. They were intentionally misleading people.”
News 6 sent Posey’s office a link to the 60 Minutes report but did not receive a response to questions about it.
Posey also did not respond to a question about his statement on the House floor claiming “massive voting irregularity accusations” even though courts and investigative bodies have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election.
Rep. Daniel Webster
Congressman Daniel Webster, who represents parts of Lake, Marion and Sumter counties, did not respond to News 6′s questions about his votes objecting to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors.
Instead, his spokesperson sent News 6 this link to a lengthy statement written one year ago, on the morning of Jan. 6, explaining why Webster and 36 other Republicans were planning to sustain objections to slates of electors.
Rep. Kat Cammack
A spokesperson for Congresswoman Kat Cammack acknowledged receiving News 6′s questions but did not provide any responses.
Cammack, who represents part of Marion County near Ocala, spoke on the House floor Jan. 6 as she objected to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors.
“State law in the 2020 election was modified or circumvented without approval of the state legislatures,” said Cammack. “These changes, along with other election irregularities throughout the 2020 election, require me, as a member of this body, to object to the certification of these electoral votes, just as my colleagues across the aisle have objected to every Republican presidential election over the last 20 years.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz
Congressman Matt Gaetz, who represents parts of the Florida Panhandle including Pensacola, is the only Florida Congress member to fully respond to News 6′s questions.
“Rep. Gaetz does stand behind his votes objecting to the election results and believes Joe Biden unfairly won the 2020 election,” said Gaetz’s spokesperson.
Gaetz’s communications director also addressed the South Carolina congressman who has since expressed regret for his Jan. 6 objections.
“The vote Tom Rice should regret is his vote to impeach President Trump,” Gaetz’s spokesperson said.
Rep. Scott Franklin
Lakeland Congressman Scott Franklin did not respond to News 6′s questions about his objections to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors.
“Rep. Franklin’s office declines comment,” a spokesperson said.
Rep. Brian Mast
Congressman Brian Mast, who represents parts of Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Martin counties, did not respond to News 6′s questions about his objections to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors.
During the House floor debate on Jan. 6, Mast attempted to pose a question to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Can you honestly tell Americans that with a pending Supreme Court case over legal observers not being able to observe and inspect signatures, that the laws and Constitution of Arizona did not be violated [sic] to change voting outcomes?” Mast asked without receiving a response.
All litigation challenging Arizona’s 2020 election results has since been dismissed.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart
South Florida Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart did not respond to News 6′s questions about his objections to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors and did not speak during the House floor debate on Jan. 6.
Rep. Byron Donalds
Congressman Byron Donalds, who represents parts of Southwest Florida, did not respond to News 6′s questions about his objections to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors and did not speak during the House floor debate on Jan. 6.
Rep. Neal Dunn
Tallahassee area Congressman Neal Dunn did not respond to News 6′s questions about his objections to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors and did not speak during the House floor debate on Jan. 6.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez
Congressman Carlos Gimenez, who represents Miami-Dade County, did not respond to News 6′s questions about his objections to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors and did not speak during the House floor debate on Jan. 6.
Rep. John Rutherford
Jacksonville Congressman John Rutherford did not respond to News 6′s questions about his objections to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors and did not speak during the House floor debate on Jan. 6.
Rep. Greg Steube
Congressman Greg Steube, who represents Venice, Punta Gorda and Lake Placid areas, did not respond to News 6′s questions about his objections to Arizona and Pennsylvania electors and did not speak during the House floor debate on Jan. 6.