Former New Jersey Governor Among Harris Republicans

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign launched a “Republicans for Harris” campaign over the weekend, with some notable conservatives, including a former New Jersey governor, voicing support for the Democratic nominee.

“I may not agree with every single position Harris takes, but I know Trump is not going to change and that’s not good for our country,” former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman said on CNN Monday morning. She added that “voting for Harris will preserve our democracy for at least the next four years.”

Whitman called the differences between the two candidates “stark.”

“His policies don’t make any sense,” Whitman said. “The Republican Party used to be a party of principles.”

Republicans for Harris, which is actually a relaunch of the Republicans for Biden group, is launching themed ads and events while using well-known Republicans like Whitman to endorse the campaign.

President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on July 21 following weeks of infighting among Democrats over whether he should pass the torch to the next generation after his debate fiasco against former President Donald Trump in late June in Atlanta.

Biden endorsed Harris the day she dropped out of the race and she has since accumulated the delegates needed to become the official Democratic presidential nominee to face Trump in November.

Republicans for Harris will host events this week in Arizona, North Carolina and Pennsylvania aimed at creating “a permission structure” for Republican voters who might otherwise have struggled to vote for Harris, the campaign told the Associated Press. The goal is to “continue outreach efforts to the millions of Republican voters who continue to reject the chaos, division and violence of Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda.”

In its announcement Sunday, Harris’ campaign also included dozens of prominent current or former Republican figures, some of whom now identify with a different party, who have already endorsed the vice president.

“Trump’s extremism is toxic to the millions of Republicans who no longer believe Donald Trump’s party represents their values” and will vote against him again in November, Harris’ national Republican outreach director, Austin Weatherford, told the AP.

More than a dozen Republican endorsements have already come in, including former Trump White House officials Stephanie Grisham and Olivia Troye.

“I may not agree with Vice President Kamala Harris on everything, but I know she will fight for our freedom, protect our democracy, and represent America with honor and dignity on the world stage,” Grisham said in a statement.

Troye, who served as a national security and counterterrorism adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence, said she witnessed firsthand the “destruction and chaos” that marked Trump’s tenure.

“As a lifelong Republican, I may not agree with Kamala Harris on everything, but I am confident she will protect our freedoms, uphold the rule of law, and provide strong leadership on the world stage,” Troye posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “That’s why I’m voting for Kamala Harris.”

The list of Republican supporters also includes former Cabinet secretaries Chuck Hagel and Ray LaHood, former governors Jim Edgar and Bill Weld, and former members of Congress Adam Kinzinger, Claudine Schneider and Joe Walsh.

“As a proud conservative, I never thought I would support a Democrat for president,” Kinzinger said in a statement. “But I know that Vice President Harris will defend our democracy and ensure that Donald Trump never returns to the White House.”