Thread by @StephenJ_Caruso

Morning everyone. I am on the Pennsylvania state Capitol today. You may have see reports about Pa. GOP state lawmakers pushing for a legislative election audit. I will be in the digging into this today.

Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Westmoreland, said he is attending the presser. "I have a large section of constituents who are very concerned, be that misinformation or legitimate." He said a "bipartisan investigation" would clarify those concerns.

By my count, 19 lawmakers (some showed after photo) are here. All conservative Republicans. They are asking for the legislature to have oversight of the election results.

They have no legislation, with 20 days to approve, create and investigate before this committee goes away.

House Republican leadership has a 1 p.m. press conference planned for an unrelated reason (internal leadership elections), but we are expected to hear more about leaderships plan then as well.

I'd really emphasize a few things to readers, potentially new to PA politics.
-The PA House GOP caucus is ideologically diverse
-Under state law, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has no authority to appoint electors.
-Session ends on Nov. 30, a tight timeline for a report

Rep. Valerie Gaydos, R-Allegheny compared the effort to investigate the election to the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. "The left was saying 'we need to hear every accusation.' Is it founded? I don’t know." She said a report would makes voters confident in elections.

Gaydos is one of the more interesting attendees, because she issued a statement before the election opposing an election integrity committee that became a lightning rod for suburban Republicans, such as herself. penncapital-star.com/election-2020/…

She said she did see a distinction between this "audit" push and her opposition to the integrity committee pre-election. But I am unsure if some of her colleagues agree, who wish that the committee had been rammed through either way. penncapital-star.com/election-2020/…

Also, a note for all those commenting. The two people who are wearing masks previously tested positive for COVID-19. Rep. Paul Schemel, R-Franklin, and Rep. Andrew Lewis, R-Dauphin.

https://twitter.com/StephenJ_Caruso/status/1326170768342994945?s=20

While I can name everyone here (excuse the brag) I'm waiting for a full list, which was promised of everyone who wants this legislative report. We'll know full extent then.

I've gotten a release with no list, so until then, here's what I believe was everyone in attendance based off of @BrettSholtis's video. All are Republicans.

Just got a list, which includes some names who didn't attend, and also does not include some people who did show up.

Seven more are listed as supporting the push who did not show, including:
-Rep. Dave Zimmerman, Lancaster
-Rep. Brett Miller, Lancaster
-Rep. David Maloney, Berks
-Rep. Kathy Rapp, Warren
-Rep. Barbara Gleim, Cumberland
-Rep. Brad Roae, Crawford
-Rep Daryl Metcalfe, Butler

That means I count 24 Republican House members in support, out of 109 in office right now, and just 2 GOP senators out of 28 in office right now.

Meanwhile, playing on the Capitol PA system...

Is there anything else that could be reasonably construed as "Pennsylvania Party Leadership votes" other then these internal caucus leadership elections?

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1326211507982659590?s=20

Like, seriously, I am all ears. Because I really thought I'd get out of the Trump presidency without having him specifically tweet about what I cover.

FWIW, nine people are out here waving Trump and American flags outside the Pa. State Capitol.

Per GOP House sources, it is agreed that Trump was tweeting about them, but his tweet was NOT discussed in caucus as they voted on leadership.

https://twitter.com/StephenJ_Caruso/status/1326228954521477120?s=19

House GOP Leadership team walks out and is basically unchanged, minus expected movement. I.e., any last minute Trump-inspired coup did not happen as of right now.

House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff says the House GOP is going to give some "additional duties" to the House State Government Committee to deal with election concerns. Doesn't clarify what that means yet.

In back to back press releases, the Pa. House Republicans announce that Rep. Seth Grove will now head the committee overseeing elections, and that they will hold hearings. But not dates are given.

Here's my best recap of the day. Will circle back tomorrow with more observations.
penncapital-star.com/election-2020/…