Kamala Harris Lands New Republican Boost in Michigan

Vice President Kamala Harris has earned the endorsement of a prominent Republican from the swing state of Michigan.

Gary Reed, who served as executive director of the Michigan Republican Party between 1992 and 1995, wrote in a letter to the editor published by the Lansing-based City Pulse on Tuesday that he is voting for Harris because former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, do not “advocate for the values of the Republican Party I once knew.”

Reeds explained that he was one of 296,200 Michigan Republicans who voted for former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley during the GOP primary election despite knowing “that Trump was likely going to be the party’s nominee.” He predicted that “many” other Haley voters would also refuse to back Trump.

“Trump and his allies have done grave damage to the Republican Party — both in Michigan and nationally,” Reed wrote. “If we ever want our Republican Party back, it has to start with Donald Trump losing on Nov. 5. That’s why I’m voting for Kamala Harris.”

Newsweek reached out to the Harris and Trump campaigns via email for comment on Tuesday evening.

Reed also slammed the former president for failing to embrace “values like fiscal discipline and a strong foreign policy” and instead choosing to “embrace protectionism and across-the-board tariffs that will make working families pay more for everyday goods.”

“Harris is focused on targeted, strategic tariffs,” wrote Reed. “Trump has no fiscal discipline. He added $8 trillion to the debt during his first term. Every time he gives a campaign speech he promises a new handout to a different group. I don’t agree with all of Harris’ economic policies, but she is more fiscally disciplined than Trump.”

“Trump and Vance thrive on xenophobia and blaming immigrants for all of our problems, rather than coming up with sensible, conservative solutions to serious issues like rising housing costs,” he added. ” Though I may disagree with some of her policy solutions, at least Harris is proposing ideas to fix our problems.”

Reed went on to argue that “Trump and Vance admire dictators and want to abandon Ukraine and our NATO allies” instead of promoting “a strong Reaganesque foreign policy. ” He denounced Trump for promising “an auto manufacturing boom” that never came while he was in the White House.

Polls suggest that Michigan is one of seven battleground states that remain neck-and-neck just one week before Election Day. An average of recent polls compiled by 538 had Harris leading Trump by just 0.8 percent in the state as of Tuesday.

Reed is far from the only Republican to endorse Harris. Former Trump administration officials Stephanie Grisham, Anthony Scaramucci and Olivia Troye, former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan and dozens of former GOP members of Congress have also endorsed the Democratic vice president.

Republican former Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan endorsed Harris last week, referring to Trump as “totally unhinged.” In an interview with The Detroit News, he argued that Harris represented a way “to move forward.”

Hundreds of ex-staffers for former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, and Senators John McCain and Mitt Romney, are also backing the Democratic nominee this year.