Rep. Kevin Kiley now says former President Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election — a position he had repeatedly refused to state publicly in years past.

Kiley, who left the Republican Party to become an independent in March, provided the statement earlier this month while on a NewsNation segment about California’s slow primary vote count. During the discussion, Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, argued public trust in elections had wavered because politicians such as Kiley refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory.

Broadcaster Chris Cuomo, who moderated the segment, quickly interrupted to ask Kiley whether that was true.

“That’s completely false,” Kiley answered. “I said at the time, have always said, that absolutely Biden was the winner. We determined the presidency in our system through the electoral college, and he won the electoral college majority.”

But his answer contrasts with at least three previous instances in 2021 and 2022 when he declined to directly say whether he believed Biden was the legitimate winner. Berman referenced one of those exchanges, in which Kiley said the answer depended on the definition of “legitimate.”

“That undermines voters’ faith in our democracy and that’s the problem,” Berman said. “People lying about our elections and the accuracy of our elections.”

Kiley’s previous responses are well-documented. In the years after the 2020 election, many Republican politicians faced questions about whether they accepted Biden’s victory as Trump continued to falsely claim the election was marred by widespread fraud.

In August 2021, when asked by the LA Times editorial board who was the legitimate winner, Kiley said: “I don’t delve into electoral politics at all. The electoral college voted and that’s who determines the powers of the presidency in our system.”

When the editorial board followed up by asking whether he believed the election was stolen or rigged, Kiley offered a similar response.

“I don’t delve into national politics,” Kiley said. “Nice try, this is what Gavin Newsom likes to do.”

The Sacramento Bee asked him the same question in March 2022. This time, Kiley said he was “looking ahead to the next election.” He received an endorsement from Trump two months later.

“I don’t think it does us any good to be litigating past battles,” Kiley told The Bee.

He declined to answer a third time during a debate hosted by KCRA3 and CapRadio in June 2022.

“Well, it depends what you mean by legitimate,” Kiley said. “The electoral college voted and that’s how we determine the powers of the presidency in our system.”

He continued by saying that protecting elections is an “important priority” and argued California’s one-party dominance created opportunities for abuses of power.

“Right now we have one party that controls all the levers at both the state and federal levels and it’s time to restore some balance,” Kiley said.

When pressed again for a yes or no answer, Kiley said: “I’ve answered the question. It depends what you mean by legitimate.”

In response to questions about Kiley’s change in responses, campaign spokesperson Alex McDonald said the congressman had consistently stated winning the electoral college majority “is the only standard for the legitimacy of a presidential election” though criticism is “fair game” and “healthy.”

“At a time when basic aspects of our system were being called into question, and some supporters of the outgoing president were making outlandish claims, Representative Kiley sought to lower the temperature by reminding all sides that they didn’t have to think the election was perfect in order to accept the outcome under our Constitution,” McDonald said in a written statement.

The shift comes as Kiley is fighting to remain in Congress, while campaigning in the more Democratic-leaning 6th district. He is facing off against Democrat and former state Sen. Richard Pan for the seat, which represents West Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin and communities north and east of Sacramento.

Kiley selected to run in that district after Proposition 50 reshaped his current district into a solid pickup for Democrats. Since the redistricting measure passed, he has signaled a move to center with several House votes that buck GOP leadership.

In March, he announced he would become the House’s sole independent and file for reelection as a “No Party Preference.” He attributed the change to frustration with partisanship and redistricting measures pushed both parties.

“I see it manifest itself day in and day out in Washington, D.C., and I think it’s actually worse than a lot of people even realize,” Kiley said at the time.

____

©2026 The Sacramento Bee. Visit at sacbee.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.