WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-Irondequoit), who represents the 25th Congressional District, easily won re-election Tuesday night with more than 60 percent of the vote over his Republican challenger Gregg Sadwick. This will be Morelle’s fourth term in the House of Representatives.

Although pleased with the results of his race, Morelle was disappointed with the outcome of the presidential race, but was one of the first Democrats in Congress to publicly congratulate President Trump on Wednesday morning.

“I have tremendous faith in the American public, I may not always agree with their judgments, I clearly wanted the vice president to win, but if we truly believe in American democracy and we believe in the self-determination of the people, they did it. choice — so it’s not up to me or anybody else to assume that, now it’s our job to figure out how to come together,” Morelle told News10NBC.

Morelle’s attention now turns to certifying the presidential election and securing the Capitol for the transition of power. As the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, he is tasked with overseeing the certification of federal elections.

“On January 3rd we will seat the members, we will elect a spokesperson and then three days later we will certify the electoral college, so my committee has responsibility for all of that as well as the security of the chapter complex. We have been working closely with the chapter police and all of our law enforcement partners just to make sure we don’t have a repeat of January 6th, 2021,” explained Morelle.

For the first time, the committee sent election observers to counties across the country where House races were expected to come down to a slim margin. “We’re monitoring everything to make sure it’s done right, I have no doubt that the election officials in the various local communities and states are doing the right thing and hopefully we’re going to continue smoothly,” Morelle said.

The House Stewardship Committee is also responsible for the security of the Capitol complex during the transition of power.

Jennifer Lewke (News10NBC): “I guess now you’ve seen the worst, so you can plan better in case problems arise.”

Rep. Joe Morelle: “Yes, for 240 years we have had peaceful transfers of power and never before have American citizens attacked the Capitol. …We changed the rules; now the Capitol Police chief can go straight to the National Guard if needed, we’re going to put infrastructure in place. it’s sad you have to think about it; I mean, we wish Americans could come to the Capitol anytime, but given what happened four years ago, we’re taking every precaution. We’re going to make sure that the members are protected and the process is protected, the Capitol is protected — and I hope we don’t see any demonstrations or anything like what happened four years ago.”

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