House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders are said to be scheming to take away a duly-won seat from an Iowa Republican in what would be one of the most in-your-face, despicable acts of political treachery in modern times — and just a few months removed from accusing Republicans of attempting to “overturn” the 2020 election when they challenged electoral results in two states.
Politico Playbook reports:
Democrats say their candidate RITA HART, who lost to GOP Rep. MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS by six votes, has every right to ask the House to resolve one of the closest House races in American history. Congress, they point out, has dealt with 110 such contested election cases over the past 90 years. Only three, however, resulted in the declared winner being ousted and replaced, according to the House Administration Committee.
The Iowa case could become the fourth. Rep. ZOE LOFGREN (D-Calif.), who chairs the Administration panel that will adjudicate the first part of this case — and is a longtime ally of Speaker NANCY PELOSI — has said her panel members are keeping an open mind, that nothing is predetermined and that Hart has the burden of proof.
But a source close to the process confirmed to Playbook that the effort to oust Miller-Meeks in favor of Hart has been blessed by the top echelons of House Democratic leadership. And the DCCC has brought in — and is paying the legal fees for — top Democratic election lawyer MARC ELIAS, this person said.
The House Administration Committee consists of six Democrats and three Republicans so there’s no chance the GOP can stop the panel from ruling in favor of Hart, who claims that Iowa election officials improperly threw out 22 ballots for her, which would have given her the victory.
And if that happens, then all that’s needed to steal the seat from Miller-Meeks is a simple majority vote.
But Democrats only control the lower chamber by eight votes, the narrowest margin for any majority in decades. They can’t afford many defections. But ‘moderate’ Democrats are lining up to do just that.
Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, North Carolina Rep. David Price, Michigan Rep. Dan Kildee, and California Rep. Lou Correa have all expressed their doubts about voting to take away a seat from any lawmaker whose election has been certified by state officials.
“Losing a House election by six votes is painful for Democrats. But overturning it in the House would be even more painful for America. Just because a majority can, does not mean a majority should,” Phillips tweeted.
“The standard [for overturning an election] has to be a very high standard,” Kildee told The Wall Street Journal. “Unless we see compelling evidence that there’s something seriously wrong, then we should defer to state and local officials.”
“I think these are issues that right now are probably best left at the state level,” Correa told CNN.
“I don’t think there’s the slightest chance that that would happen,” Price told Fox News when asked if he thought the House would overturn the election. “I have confidence that all sides of the House Administration Committee process are well aware of how sensitive and how difficult this is.”
So far, Pelosi has her thin majority to improperly boot Miller-Meeks. But at this rate, that simple majority is vanishing quickly.