In summary

In a futile maneuver that did not stop Biden’s win, almost all Republican members of Congress from California voted to challenge the election results from Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Most Republican members of Congress from California joined doomed attempts to reject the electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania, states that voted for Democrat Joe Biden as president.

California Republicans who voted to reject the Electoral College results from the two states — after being delayed for hours when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol — were House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, Doug LaMalfa of Richvale, Jay Obernolte of Big Bear Lake, Devin Nunes of Tulare, Darrell Issa of Vista, Ken Calvert of Corona, and Mike Garcia of Santa Clarita.

But one voted to accept the votes from both states: Rep. Tom McClintock of Elk Grove. Newly elected representative Young Kim from Orange County did not vote on the Arizona question but voted to accept the Pennsylvania results.

McClintock made it clear which way he was leaning three days before Congress went into joint session to accept or reject each state’s electoral votes, a normally routine process.

“If the Congress can refuse to count electoral votes — for whatever reason — then it has the inherent power to seize the decision for itself and render the Electoral College superfluous,” he posted on Twitter and in a letter on his official website.

Yet McClintock said, “There still needs to be an intensive investigation into 2020 voter fraud. Every fraudulent vote disenfranchises an honest citizen. But once the electoral college votes, the question of who actually won the vote passes to historians — and perhaps prosecutors.”

Two newly elected representatives reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 and did not vote: Michelle Steel of Orange County and David Valadao of Hanford. Valadao has yet to be sworn in.

This coverage is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. In California, CalMatters is hosting the collaboration with the Fresno Bee, the Long Beach Post and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

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