Former GOP Rep. Fred Upton Endorses Harris—Joining These Republicans Crossing Party Lines

Topline

Former Michigan Rep. Fred Upton—who retired from the House in 2022 after serving for 36 years—announced he will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, joining a growing list of Republican lawmakers and big names who have said they will cross party lines in the upcoming election.

Key Facts

Upton from Michigan—who retired after voting to impeach former President Donald Trump—said Thursday he already voted for Harris, telling The New York Times in a statement Trump is “unfit to serve as commander in chief again” and his behavior is “unhinged,” while he thinks Harris will “bring people together.”

Shawn Reilly, the Mayor of Waukesha, Wisconsin—a Republican city Trump won in 2016 and 2020 in a key swing state—endorsed Harris on Wednesday and said his vote “is a vote against Trump,” adding: “I am terrified of Donald Trump becoming our next president: he's already been impeached twice. He's been convicted of felonies and this is not what the United States needs.”

Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake—a Republican who served as the ambassador to Turkey until earlier this month—said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sept. 29 he is supporting the Harris-Walz ticket because he believes in the rule of law and wants to support a candidate “who respects the will of the voters and would never attempt to use the powers of the Presidency to overturn an election” and “seeks to unite our country” rather than divide it.

More than 100 former staffers and national security leaders from past Republican administrations endorsed Harris on Sept. 18, issuing a statement from the group “Reagan, Bush, McCain & Romney Alumni for Harris” that condemned Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021 and criticized his national security record.

Alberto Gonzales, former U.S. attorney general and counsel to the president under George W. Bush, endorsed Harris in an op-ed published in Politico on Sept. 12 in which he said Trump is “perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation.”

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said on Sept. 6 he would vote for Harris, calling former President Donald Trump a “threat to our republic” and saying U.S. citizens “have a duty to put our country above partisanship to defend our Constitution.”

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., announced just two days before her father that she would be supporting Harris, as well, telling a crowd at Duke University that she “thought deeply” about her vote and is supporting Harris “because of the danger that Donald Trump poses.”

Former vice presidential candidate and GOP Sen. John McCain’s son, Jimmy McCain, said on Sept. 3 he changed his voter registration to Democrat and planned to support Harris, citing Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery during which one of his staffers reportedly pushed a cemetery worker.

Staunch Trump critic former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August and urged people to vote for Harris after he had previously endorsed President Joe Biden for president.

Former Lt. Gov of Georgia Geoff Duncan also spoke at the DNC and endorsed Harris, saying: “Let me be clear to my Republican friends at home watching—if you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you're not a Democrat, you're a patriot.”

Stephanie Grisham, a Trump White House press secretary, also voiced support for Harris at the DNC, telling the crowd Trump has “no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth,” while Harris “respects the American people.”

John Giles, mayor of Mesa, Arizona, endorsed Harris at the DNC and urged other Republicans to vote across the aisle, as well, saying the GOP had been “kidnapped by extremists,” and a good Republican wouldn’t vote for someone who is “a danger to our republic and someone who does not have any respect for our Constitution.”

Anthony Scaramucci, who served as a White House communications director under Trump, said in a post on X on July 24—just days after Harris took over the top of the ticket—he believed Harris is “capable and has a great team,” adding he looked forward to seeing her policies on crypto.

Which Former Trump Officials Won't Endorse Him For President?

Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff and former homeland security secretary John Kelly spoke to The New York Times in late October and expressed his concerns about a second Trump presidency. Kelly said Trump is a fascist, “prefers the dictator approach to government,” and that Trump has a fundamental misunderstanding of history and the Constitution. Despite his anti-Trump comments, Kelly did not outright endorse Harris—though she has clung on to his comments in recent events. Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence also has not and will not endorse Trump, saying, “I believe anyone that puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.” More former Trump officials have also weighed in and advised against electing the former president again, with former Defense Secretary Mark Esper saying Trump was “a threat to democracy,” and “former national security adviser John Bolton saying he is “unfit to be president.”

Which Republicans Will Not Endorse A Candidate?

A spokesperson for former President George W. Bush said in September he will not endorse a candidate for president as he “retired from presidential politics years ago.” Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah also said he will not endorse a candidate. He said earlier this month he has made it clear he doesn’t want Trump to be elected, but said he wants “to continue to have a voice in the Republican Party following this election,” so he will not endorse Harris.

Key Background

November’s race between Harris and Trump is expected to be highly contested. Following Biden leaving the presidential race in late July and handing the top of the ticket to Harris, she nearly erased the lead Trump had grown after Biden’s poor first debate performance. The vice president has been narrowly leading Trump in recent polls, but the two are going back and forth in razor-thin races in most swing states.

Big Number

1.7. That’s by how many points Harris leads Trump, according to FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average on Thursday. RealClearPolitics’ national average shows Harris with a 0.2-point lead.

Chief Critics

Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, told the Washington Post that “nobody cares what these disgruntled and deranged people have to say,” referring to Republicans supporting Harris. “President Trump is overwhelmingly supported by the majority of Republicans and polling better than he ever did in 2016 and 2020,” she added. Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham also criticized Republicans backing Harris on Sunday, speaking to them directly on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and saying: “What the hell are you doing? ... You’re supporting the most radical nominee in the history of American politics.” He went on to say while some people say Trump’s rhetoric is a danger to the country, the real “danger to this country is the policies of Biden and Harris.”

Contra

At least two former Democrats have endorsed Trump. Former Democrat-turned-independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Trump in August after ending his presidential campaign, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, endorsed Trump shortly after. The former president placed both Kennedy and Gabbard on his transition team after their endorsements.

Tangent

In a late-August interview on CNN, Harris said she would put a Republican in her cabinet if elected as part of her effort to represent “all Americans.” She did not indicate who she had in mind or for what role. Presidents Biden and Trump did not appoint cabinet members from across the aisle, but it’s not uncommon: George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all did.

Further Reading