Rep. Ralph Abraham had so many requests for tickets to the presidential inauguration he had to take down a request page on his website.
By last week, the Louisiana Republican had more than 300 requests, which is way more than the 185 tickets he will get to dole out, The USA Today Network of Louisiana reports.
“Interest spiked almost immediately after Trump’s election,” says Cole Avery, a spokesman for Abraham. “We were getting some requests before, but I don’t think most people in the 5th (congressional) district were interested in attending an inauguration for Secretary Clinton. There’s been a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for attending Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.”
Abraham and other members of Congress, particularly Republicans, say their offices are receiving daily requests for tickets since Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. The office of Rep. Cedric Richmond, the lone Democrat in Louisiana’s delegation, has also been getting a steady stream of requests.
It’s been eight years since a Republican has been sworn-in as president. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will give out 240,000 tickets for the 58th Presidential Inauguration to be held on Jan. 20. Congressional lawmakers, who are allotted a limited number of the free tickets, distribute the tickets, mostly to constituents. Some opt to hold lotteries. Others go with a first-come, first served system. Some are still figuring it out.
It’s not unusual that there’s much interest in witnessing firsthand the swearing in of a new president, but Republicans are particularly excited, says Joshua Stockley, a political scientist at the University of Louisiana, Monroe.
“Any Republican should be particularly excited that after a long eight years—from their perspective—they get to observe a Republican being sworn into office,” he says.
