North Carolina Republicans Split On Vote To Certify 2020 Election

By Michael Falero, Votebeat

January 04, 2021

This article is made possible through a partnership between WFAE and Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. This article is available for reprint under the terms of our republishing policy.

The U.S. House and Senate are scheduled to vote Wednesday on certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. It will be a test for North Carolina Republicans, some of whom plan to contest the election and vote no.

The state’s two senators — both Republicans — appear to be voting yes, certifying the election results.

Sen. Richard Burr told Politico he wasn’t going to join Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s effort to contest Biden’s victory. Burr has previously said he doesn’t plan to run for reelection in 2022. Sen. Thom Tillis hasn’t made a definitive public statement, but in mid-December he called Biden the “presumptive president” after the Electoral College ratified his win.

Tillis himself was reelected in November.

Several Republican members of the state's congressional delegation plan to object. Newly elected 11th District U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn has said he will vote no. His office said he plans on challenging the certification because of his “commitment is to uphold the Constitution.”

Rep. Richard Hudson has also announced he will vote no. Hudson represents the 8th District, which stretches from Cabarrus County to Cumberland County. David Rowser in the 7th District also said he would also vote no, and Ted Budd in the 13th District has been Tweeting in support of Hawley’s effort over the last few days. Greg Murphy in the 3rd District said he’s surveying his constituents about how he should vote and plans to make a public announcement Tuesday morning.

Over the weekend, Democrats and many Republicans were outraged over a phone call President Trump made to Georgia’s secretary of state, pressuring him to find enough votes so Trump could win.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Alma Adams of Mecklenburg County said Trump should "be in jail" over the call. Adams said she hoped the call will persuade some Republicans to vote in favor of certifying the results.

"They should not want to participate in this conspiracy because that’s really what it would be," Adams said. "And it’s just wrong what he’s doing. And there’s no doubt in my mind that he is certainly trying to put pressure on people to change this vote."

Last month, seven current members of the state’s Republican delegation supported a baseless lawsuit by the Texas attorney general to stop the certification of votes in a handful of states that Biden won. Mecklenburg County’s other representative, Republican Dan Bishop, has been one of the president’s biggest supporters and has said the election was "rigged."

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