Only Republican to vote for police reform bill ‘accidentally pressed the wrong … button’

Rep. Lance Gooden (Texas), the only House Republican to vote for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, reportedly said in a now-deleted post on Twitter that he had pressed the wrong button by accident.

“I accidentally pressed the wrong voting button and realized it too late,” Gooden wrote in the tweet, according to The Washington Post. “I have changed the official record to reflect my opposition to the partisan George Floyd Policing Act.”

The measure would outlaw chokeholds, seek to end religious and racial profiling and bar certain no-knock warrants among other police policy changes.

“I have arguably the most conservative/America First voting record in Congress!” Gooden said in another tweet. 

“Of course I wouldn’t support the radical left’s, Anti-Police Act,” he added. “I have changed the official record to reflect my opposition!”

I have arguably the most conservative/America First voting record in Congress!

Of course I wouldn’t support the radical left’s, Anti-Police Act.

I have changed the official record to reflect my opposition! pic.twitter.com/s7uCdlxvgO

— Lance Gooden (@Lancegooden) March 4, 2021

The legislation passed the House late Wednesday on a 220-112 vote.

The Post notes that accidental votes are not uncommon in legislatures on both the state and federal levels, though the consequences have been more impactful.

North Carolina state Rep. Becky Carney (D), for example, accidentally helped legalize fracking in her state after hitting “yes” on a veto against the bill she had lobbied against, according to the newspaper. Because changing her vote would change the outcome, Carney was not permitted to reverse her vote under the chamber’s rules, it added.