If Rep. Chris Jacobs hoped his intended Saturday vote to oppose President Trump and support the embattled U.S. Postal Service would quiet his Democratic critics, his off-the-mark voting finger achieved just the opposite.
The rookie Republican from Hamburg took a beating Sunday from Democratic opponent Nate McMurray and myriad social media commentators after first announcing he would vote in favor of $25 billion in new Postal Service funding, but then actually voting against it.
Jacobs figured as one of 26 Republicans who sided with the Democratic-sponsored measure in a rare Saturday session in August as Trump targets the Postal Service, and critics question recent moves by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to eliminate substantial overtime and sideline a host of sorting machines. It all follows the thrust of postal funding into the headlines over the past few days, as the Democratic bill aims to block more changes that have delayed delivery and could hamper mail-in voting for the November election.
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If all had gone right for Jacobs, however, it's a good bet his Democratic opponents would have little room for criticism on Sunday. Instead, his claim of mistakenly hitting the wrong vote button only fired up McMurray, who said he was "shocked" that the 27th District's congressman could not competently cast his vote on a major issue.
"If it truly was a mistake, it's mind boggling and would be historic ineptitude," McMurray said. "How can we ever be confident he will make the vote he wants to make?"
McMurray also refuses to buy Jacobs' explanation that he simply pressed the wrong button at one of the House voting stations. The former Grand Island supervisor, who narrowly lost to Jacobs in a June 23rd special election, contends the congressman had to face angry leaders if he joined other upstate New York Republicans like Tom Reed, John Katko and Elise Stefanik in voting with Democrats.
"I think after the vote was over, someone said something to him and he got cold feet," McMurray said. "He doesn't know what to do when consultants don't have a clear direction for him, and after the fact he got push back.
"I can't believe he is incapable of using a machine that says 'yes' or 'no,'" he added.
McMurray said he finds the explanation even more implausible after years of Jacobs following voting procedures in the State Senate.
But Jacobs discounted any suggestion that his intended vote ran afoul of House GOP leaders, reiterating to The Buffalo News on Sunday that he got distracted and simply hit the wrong voting button.
"I made a mistake," he said. "I learned from it and will do everything I can not to make that mistake again."
Jacobs noted he had already called The News on Saturday to report he would vote to approve funding for such a vital service, even though Trump opposed the measure. That followed the recent special election and primary campaigns in which the president personally campaigned for Jacobs in the heavily Republican district.
"I felt strongly that people should be able to rely on such a core institution of our democracy especially during these challenging times, and that I would do everything I could to support the Postal Service," he said, noting he realized his mistake when his chief of staff called him at the airport while awaiting a return flight to Buffalo.
"I was flabbergasted," he said, explaining that his attempts to change the recorded vote were unsuccessful because too much time had elapsed. He also dismissed any suggestion that he was pressured by party leaders.
"That's not the case. This is simply the fact that I made an error in recording the vote," he said. "There's nothing more to it. I made a mistake. That's it."
Upon his return to Washington, the congressman said he intends to use a mechanism called "personal explanations" that allows members to explain missed or incorrectly entered votes. He added that Rep. Brian Higgins, his Democratic colleague from Western New York, had already called to suggest following the personal explanations route.
Jacobs said even though the measure passed the Democratic House by a vote of 257 to 150, it faces certain death in the Republican Senate, and he hopes a new stimulus bill will address the Postal Service and other needs.
"The one solace I take is the hope that I can have the ability to vote on a bill that actually becomes law," he said.
McMurray, meanwhile, continued piling on throughout Sunday. He issued a statement accusing his opponent of silence as "Trump threatened our democracy, saying that no funding meant fewer mail-in ballots for November and a better chance for his re-election."
"He hasn't said a word about Postmaster DeJoy stealing mailboxes and dismantling mail sorting machines here in Buffalo," he said, noting his endorsement by the National Association of Letter Carriers.
