Harris team launches GOP group with endorsements from ex-Trump officials, key Republican voices

Vice President Harris’s campaign launched “Republicans for Harris” with more than 25 GOP endorsements, including former secretaries Chuck Hagel and Ray LaHood, as well as former GOP governors and lawmakers.

The campaign announced Sunday that Trump-era White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham and Olivia Troye, ex-national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, also endorsed Harris.

Hagel, a Republican senator from Nebraska and Defense secretary, and LaHood, a GOP congressman from Illinois and Transportation secretary, both served under former President Obama.

Additionally, former Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.) put their support behind Harris in November, along with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who had endorsed President Biden when he was still at the top of the ticket. The vice president replaced Biden after the incumbent stepped aside last month following a disastrous debate performance and multiple calls from Democrats to drop out of the race.

“I encourage other Trump administration officials who saw the tyrant we worked for in office to speak out and stand with Kamala Harris this November to keep integrity in the White House and ensure democracy for our country,” Grisham said in a statement.

Troye added, “The stakes are too high to let partisanship jeopardize our freedoms and the Constitution.”

Republicans for Harris will focus on activating GOP voices “to speak to their friends and family about the importance of voting for the Vice President,” according to the campaign, which described the group as a “campaign within a campaign.” The group will have kickoff events Monday in battleground states Arizona, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Other endorsements came from former GOP Govs. Bill Weld (Mass.), Christine Todd Whitman (N.J.) and Jim Edgar (Ill.), the campaign announced Sunday. It also highlighted that former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) endorsed Harris after backing Biden.

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

He added, “Donald Trump said he doesn’t want these voters, but Vice President Harris and our campaign are working overtime to earn the support of my fellow Republicans who care about defending democracy and restoring decency — all of which would be torn away in a second Trump presidency.”

Others who backed Harris include former GOP Reps. Alan Steelman (Texas), Claudine Schneider (R.I.), David Emery (Maine), David Trott (Mich.), Jack Quinn (N.Y.), Jim Greenwood (Pa.), John LeBoutillier (N.Y.), Tom Coleman (Mo.), Rod Chandler (Wash.), Peter Smith (Vt.) and Wayne Gilchrest (Md.).