Conservative Republican Mayor endorses Kamala Harris
In an op-ed that appeared Monday in an Arizona daily statewide news publication, a conservative GOP mayor of a large city that state publicly endorsed Kamala Harris for President, and was scathing in his criticism for Donald Trump in the process.
Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona wrote that the “time has come for my fellow Arizona Republicans to return to the core foundations of the Grand Old Party.” He went on to state that Trump has led the GOP “down the path of political extremism, away from focusing on our fundamental freedoms. Now, more than ever, we need leaders who will put country over party.“
Mayor Giles went on to call on his fellow Arizona Republicans to choose country over party and to vote against Donald Trump in the upcoming election. He criticized the misinformation, election denialism, and erosion of trust in our justice system brought about by Trump.
The mayor further castigated Trump for blocking reforms in immigration and border policies because Trump didn’t want the problem solved for his own personal political gain. Mayor Giles also praised the Biden-Harris administration for delivering “historic federal funding” for their airport along with investments in local streets and the public transit systems, and creating thousands of new jobs in Arizona under the federal infrastructure act. In contrast, the mayor stated that the Trump Administration made urban infrastructure “into a joke.”
Mayor Giles also pointed out that “Trump poses a serious threat to our nation. We can’t have a felon representing us on the national stage, let alone one who would threaten to abandon NATO and ruin our standing abroad.“ The mayor also called out the dangers to our rights and freedoms posed by the “extreme and dangerous Project 2025 agenda“ proposed by Trump and his allies. The mayor concluded that Arizona voters should “put country over party by voting to stop Trump and protect our democracy.“
This endorsement from the mayor of a very conservative large swing state city obviously is a great boost to the Kamala Harris campaign. Hopefully many more leaders of urban areas as well as other communities benefited by the Biden-Harris Administration’s economic reforms, will also step forward to endorse Kamala Harris for our next President.