Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy’s acknowledgement last month that Joe Biden won the Nov. 3 presidential election hasn’t resulted in other prominent Republicans in the state accepting the election outcome.
“With Michigan certifying its results, Joe Biden has over 270 electoral college votes,” Cassidy said on Twitter Nov. 23. “President Trump’s legal team has not presented evidence of the massive fraud which would have had to be present to overturn the election.”
When he wrote the tweet, the U.S. senator urged the White House to move forward on the handoff of power that will culminate with Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
“I voted for President Trump, but Joe Biden won,” Cassidy said. “... The transition should begin for the sake of the country.”
His fellow Louisiana Republican senator, John Kennedy, however has taken a more cautious approach about the election outcome.
“The senator believes President Trump has every right to have his concerns about election irregularities heard out in court,” Kennedy’s communications director, Jess Andrews, told the Louisiana Record in an email. “Some of those cases remain ongoing, and the senator will congratulate the winner of the election once those cases conclude.”
The House Republican Whip, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Jefferson), has also not publicly acknowledged a Democratic victory in the presidential race, although votes have been certified in all of the contested swing states.
“The election isn’t over until all legal votes are counted and certified,” Scalise said in a Tweet last month. “There are still serious legal challenges that have been made, and until that process is resolved, the election is not final. The American people deserve a fair and transparent process.”
The Louisiana Republican Party did not immediately respond to a Record request about whether the party would accept the election results. But party Chairman Louis Gurvich said in a prepared statement that the election situation was still subject to change.
“As we await developments in the presidential election and get ready for (the Dec. 5 congressional runoff and municipal election), allow me to devote a few lines to the accomplishments of the president and our other Republican candidates in Louisiana,” Gurvich said. “... President Trump has received a total of 1,255,776 votes in Louisiana, which is the largest vote total of any candidate for public office in the state’s history.”