Vice President Kamala Harris picked up endorsements this week from several mayors of border towns in Arizona, but one new endorsement from the Grand Canyon State stood out from the rest. John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Arizona’s third-largest city, endorsed the Democrat in an op-ed for The Arizona Republic, despite the fact that Giles is a Republican.
The time has come for my fellow Arizona Republicans to return to the core foundations of the Grand Old Party. Our party used to stand for the belief that every Arizonan, no matter their background or circumstances, should have the freedom, opportunity and security to live out their American Dream. But since Donald Trump refused to accept the outcome of the 2020 election, Republicans have yet to course correct. The Republican Party with Trump at its helm continues down the path of political extremism, away from focusing on our fundamental freedoms.
The mayor described Harris as “the competent, just and fair leader our country deserves,” while describing Trump as “a felon” and “a serious threat to our nation.”
Giles went on to write, “I believe my party has a moral and ethical responsibility to restore faith in our democratic institutions. In the spirit of the late Sen. John McCain’s motto, ‘Country First,’ I call on other Arizona Republicans to join me in choosing country over party this election and to vote against Donald Trump.”
This announcement comes on the heels of a similar endorsement from former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a lifelong Republican who threw his support behind Harris last week.
For the vice president, this isn’t a bad start. After all, Harris has only been a candidate for nine days, and given the state of the cotemporary GOP, it’s not easy for any Democratic candidate to pick up cross-party backing.
Looking ahead, though, it’s only natural to wonder whether Giles and Duncan represent the start of a trend or whether they’ll be 2024 outliers.
Before President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid, he’d picked up some Republican backing, including a high-profile endorsement from former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson also encouraged people to vote for the Democratic incumbent, and former deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews made a similar announcement.
As best as I can tell, they haven’t yet thrown their support behind Harris, though it wouldn’t come as too big of a surprise if they did.
But will other Republicans follow suit? I kept a close eye on this dynamic four years ago and found quite a few GOP partisans — former Republican National Committee chairs, former Republican cabinet secretaries, former Republican governors and former Republican members of Congress — who publicly expressed support for the Biden-led Democratic ticket.
As Election Day 2024 approaches, they are likely to face some pressure to do the same this year. Watch this space.
