‘Republicans for Harris’ launches in NC, backed by former GOP politicians

A national effort by former Republican Party politicians and activists to back the presidential campaign of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off in North Carolina Monday.

Led by a politically conservative U.S. Army veteran, a former Republican justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court and a former local GOP activist from Charlotte, the state chapter of “Republicans for Harris” launched with speeches and a press conference.

They all said they disagree with many of the policies Harris backs. But they’re nevertheless endorsing her for president and working to convince fellow Republicans to listen to their arguments — namely, that former President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again movement don’t represent the conservative values of the Republican Party they believe in.

“Donald Trump does not stand for our beliefs,” said Michael Tucker, a former board member of the Mecklenburg County GOP. “He does not stand for anything but himself.”

The North Carolina Republican Party didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the new group and its efforts to mobilize the anti-Trump wing of the party. Neither did the Trump campaign.

The Harris campaign helped organize the new group and said it’s happy to welcome the support.

“There’s a home in our campaign for Republican voters who care deeply about the future of our democracy, standing strong with our allies against foreign adversaries, and working across the aisle to get things done for the American people,” her campaign wrote in a statement.

Scott Peoples, a Raleigh resident who served in the 82nd Airborne Division at what’s now Fort Liberty, said Monday that he spent years voting for Republicans. But he can’t support Trump over his history of mocking soldiers who were killed in action or taken prisoner, he said, adding that he also opposes the isolationist foreign policy stances backed by Trump and other MAGA Republicans.

And even though he acknowledged Harris had a liberal voting record while serving in the U.S. Senate, Peoples said he also gives her credit for helping Biden pass the PACT Act in 2022. That massive overhaul of veterans’ health benefits expanded medical coverage for ailments tied to burn pits as well as the toxic water that existed for years at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, a large U.S Marine Corps base.

“They have a proven record that I think even right-leaning veterans can acknowledge,” Peoples said.

Similar sentiments were common throughout Monday’s call: Even if Harris isn’t their ideal candidate, they said, she at least has some issues they can get behind. And, more importantly, she doesn’t strike them as an existential threat to America like they believe Trump to be.

“Donald Trump’s attacks on our institutions and democracy will be much more severe under a second term,” said former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr. A longtime Republican politician, Orr publicly quit the GOP after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on Congress by Trump supporters.

Orr and the others hope there are enough never-Trump Republicans like them to help swing North Carolina toward Harris.

In 2020, Trump won North Carolina by just 75,000 votes over Biden. In this year’s primary elections, more than 250,000 North Carolina voters backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley against Trump.

And while Trump is still favored to win North Carolina, polls show the race has become more competitive since Harris took over the campaign for Biden. A variety of public polls showed Trump leading Biden by 4% or more in North Carolina. This past week a Morning Consult poll showed Trump leading Harris by 1% of the vote.