A Wisconsin Mayor, a Former Republican, Endorses Harris

Mayor Shawn Reilly of Waukesha, Wis., an independent who was a Republican for most of his life, said in an interview on Wednesday that he was endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

The endorsement is a key one for Ms. Harris, whose campaign has lavished attention on the suburbs of Milwaukee, which lean Republican but are so densely populated that they deliver a pivotal number of Democratic votes in the swing state.

Mr. Reilly, 63, said that he had never endorsed a Democrat before. But this election is different, he said, describing his own evolution from loyal Republican for decades to an independent in 2021.

“It’s very easy to not even stick your nose in this — that’s the easiest way to go about it,” he said. “But the reason I’m doing it is because I think we’re at a crossroads. I’m very afraid of the direction our country will head in if Donald Trump becomes president. I think we’ll be heading down a road of authoritarianism and fascism.”



https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/us/politics/shawn-reilly-wisconsin-mayor-kamala-harris-endorsement.html