Six moderate House Republicans signed on to a bipartisan letter spearheaded by centrists pledging to respect the results of the 2024 election.
The “unity commitment” released Friday is led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and has the support of 32 House members.
By signing the letter, members pledge — after “all legal means to challenge election results in the courts have been exhausted” — to acknowledge the election winner certified at the January 2025 joint meeting of Congress as the legitimate president; to attend the president’s inauguration; and to “[serve] as a voice for calm and reconciliation and [speak] out against those who endorse or engage in violence that harms people, property, or public spaces.”
The Republicans who signed the letter along with Bacon are Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Ore.), Nick LaLota (N.Y.) and Anthony D’Esposito (N.Y.). Only Bacon and Fitzpatrick were members of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, and neither supported objections to the 2020 election results that day.
In a statement, Gottheimer said the pledge is “a framework for Members to work together and communicate their respect for the electoral process, regardless of who wins.”
“Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have a responsibility to demonstrate true leadership ahead of this critical election and serve as a voice for calm,” Gottheimer said.
Former President Trump’s pressure campaign to Congress to overturn the results of the 2020 election culminated in a violent mob storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress was set to certify the results of the election.
Asked in a CNN town hall last year if he would accept the 2024 results no matter the outcome, Trump said, “Yeah, if I think it’s an honest election, absolutely.”
Democratic members of Congress have also filed formal objections to election results during Congress’s formal certification process following Republican presidential victories in the 2000, 2004 and 2016 elections, though they accepted the outcomes.
“In America we respect election results especially once the courts and appeals work through the process,” Bacon said in a statement. “We fight hard to win during campaigns and then respect the results when the votes are counted. We are the greatest country in the world, and we are governed by the rule of law. The citizens are sovereign, and they decide.”
Democratic signers of the letter include Reps. Don Davis (N.C.), Jared Golden (Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), and Haley Stevens (Mich.). Signer Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) is seeking a Senate seat. Two Democratic signers will not be in Congress in 2025: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (Va.) opted against reelection as she mounts a gubernatorial bid in 2025, and Rep. Wiley Nickel (N.C.) opted against a reelection bid for his redrawn district.