A group of more than two dozen former Republican members of Congress announced their support for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday, hours before the start of the Republican National Convention.
The Biden campaign said in a statement that the 27 former GOP lawmakers believe President Donald Trump’s “failures” in office “have superseded partisanship.”
“In a strong rebuke to the current administration, these former members of Congress cited Trump’s corruption, destruction of democracy, blatant disregard for moral decency, and urgent need to get the country back on course as a reason why they support Biden,” the statement said.
The campaign said Monday’s announcement signaled the launch of Republicans for Biden, a “national effort to engage Republicans who are supporting Biden this fall” and encourage them to organize support for the Democratic candidate.
Three former senators are included in the group: Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire and John Warner of Virginia. Flake, who served six terms in the House before joining the Senate in 2013, is an outspoken critic of the president. Flake, who did not seek reelection in 2018, had previously indicated he would be willing to support a Democratic candidate over Trump.
Warner left the Senate in 2009 after 30 years, including three stints as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said in March he was backing the “thoroughly tested” Biden over Trump, whom he called a “gamble.” Humphrey served two terms in the Senate, leaving in 1990.
The 24 former GOP House members supporting Biden are:
Steve Bartlett of Texas
Bill Clinger of Pennsylvania
Tom Coleman of Missouri
Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania
Charles Djou of Hawaii
Mickey Edwards of Oklahoma
Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland
Jim Greenwood of Pennsylvania
Bob Inglis of South Carolina
Jim Kolbe of Arizona
Steve Kuykendall of California
Ray LaHood of Illinois
Jim Leach of Iowa
Susan Molinari of New York
Connie Morella of Maryland
Mike Parker of Mississippi
Jack Quinn of New York
Claudine Schneider of Rhode Island
Christopher Shays of Connecticut
Peter Smith of Vermont
Alan Steelman of Texas
Jim Walsh of New York
Bill Whitehurst of Virginia
Dick Zimmer of New Jersey
Other Republicans also have rejected Trump and endorsed Biden, including former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, all of whom spoke at the Democratic National Convention last week.
Hours before Biden gave his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, more than 70 senior officials who served under Republican administrations signed a letter calling Trump “unfit to lead” while outlining their support for Biden.
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