Shimkus successor promises to object to certifying 2020 presidential election results
U.S. Rep.-elect Mary Miller, who will succeed John Shimkus in Illinois’ 15th Congressional District, has promised to object to certifying the presidential election results.
Miller is a Republican from Oakland, Illinois, who President Donald Trump endorsed ahead of the 2020 election.
Miller described the presidential election results as “tainted” in a statement she shared Tuesday, but she did not cite any details.
Trump has refused to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, falsely alleging widespread election fraud without offering credible evidence. Election officials across the country and U.S. Attorney General William Barr have confirmed there was no widespread fraud, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
Members of the U.S. House and Senate are scheduled to meet Jan. 6 to count the Electoral College votes. During that joint session, members can object to a state’s votes on any grounds.
But NPR reports that any attempted challenges are “all but certain” to fail, “simply because Democrats hold the House majority and would not vote to overturn any of Democrat Biden’s electors.” Both chambers would need to agree for an objection to succeed, according to NPR.
Jeremy Mayer, a George Mason University professor, suggested in an opinion piece for The Hill that Republicans’ goal on Jan. 6 is to delay vote certification with debate about their challenges so Biden is not inaugurated as president on Jan. 20.
In her statement, Miller said: “I am fighting for the people of my district and with President Trump to ensure the integrity of our elections. I promised to stand with President Trump, and I will keep that promise. It is my responsibility to the great people of Illinois to object to the Electoral College Certification.”
Miller accuses U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and “the Washington Swamp” of refusing to allow any investigations into allegations of election fraud “because they know even a glancing review would uncover the greatest heist of the 21st century.”
Miller offered no evidence to support her claim.
The 15th Congressional District covers Clinton and Washington counties, parts of Madison and Bond counties and southeastern Illinois.
Miller and her Republican colleagues U.S. Reps. Mike Bost and Rodney Davis did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent to their spokesmen Wednesday.
Bost previously supported Trump’s unsuccessful attempt to challenge election results through a lawsuit, but Davis did not sign on to the legal brief.
In early December, Davis told WGLT, the Bloomington-Normal NPR affiliate, “I fully anticipate based upon the results, the Electoral College will choose Joe Biden as the next president” and that “the process that our Constitution lays out finalizes the presidential vote and finalizes who our next president is when those electors meet.”
There have been 59 unsuccessful court challenges to the results as of Dec. 13, according to Marc Elias, the leading lawyer for Democrats.
Bost said he didn’t make the decision to support a lawsuit lightly in a statement to the The Southern Illinoisan.
“Across the country, there have been concerns about irregularities in the 2020 presidential election; and we must work to ensure that the American people can have faith in our elections and trust the results,” Bost said in the statement.
He added that the Supreme Court, which dismissed the lawsuit, is the “final arbiter in cases of election irregularities.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 11:53 AM.
