Waukesha mayor endorses Kamala Harris; red city mayor plans to vote blue
WAUKESHA, Wis. - The mayor of Waukesha exclusively told FOX6 News he's voting for Democrat Kamala Harris for president.
It's a Republican city in Wisconsin's largest Republican county.
Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly
Mayor Shawn Reilly grew up a Republican and voted that way for most of his adult life.
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"It's difficult. The easy thing to do is just not say anything and cast my vote the way I want, but I think we're at a crossroads now," Reilly said. "I feel in my heart that this is something that I need to come out and say: I am going to be voting for Vice President Harris to become our next president."
Reilly revealed to FOX6 he voted third party in 2016 and for President Joe Biden in 2020 but kept that to himself. For other offices, he said he votes Republican "more often than not."
Now this red city mayor is publicly endorsing blue for president.
"It is a vote against Trump," he said. "I am terrified of Donald Trump becoming our next president for all the reasons I have indicated: he's already been impeached twice. He's been convicted of felonies and this is not what the United States needs."
Reilly said he left the Republican Party on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol. He now joins other Republicans who backed Harris. Former high-ranking House Republican Liz Cheney campaigned with Harris in Brookfield this week and Reilly was there, where he was spotted clapping while seated in the audience.
Some are switching parties the other way. Former Democratic United States Representative Tulsi Gabbard this year backed former President Donald Trump. She said he will help walk the world away from war.
"It’s important for leaders in the Republican Party to go out and go to places where they may not be in a dark red republican state," she told FOX6 in an interview weeks before her endorsement of the former president. "Really, there is an opportunity here in this election to try and build those bridges and reach out to people who feel politically homeless and left behind."
Vice President Kamala Harris Wisconsin visit; Brookfield campaign event
Kamala Harris teamed up with Liz Cheney for a campaign event in Brookfield, Wis. on Monday, Oct. 21.
Trump won the City of Waukesha in both 2016 and 2020. In 2016, he won it by 11 points. In 2020, the lead shrunk to 5.5 points.
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Trump's lead in the broader county was larger. He won 17,000 more votes in Waukesha County in 2020 compared with 2016, but his percentage of the county stayed at about 60%. That underperformed what other Republicans won in this crucial county, including Gov. Scott Walker who won 66% in 2018 and 72% in 2014. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney won 66% in 2012.
Republicans criticized Reilly's endorsement. "Only voters already committed to Kamala Harris care one iota about what a liberal like Shawn Reilly thinks," Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said in a statement provided to FOX6 News.
Vice President Kamala Harris
As for Reilly?
"I'm going to put up with repercussions for this," he said. "There's going to be a lot of people who are not happy with what I say, and there will be a lot of people who are happy with what I have to say. But when you're in this job, that's your daily life, anyways."
Waukesha reelected him in 2022. He said he doesn't plan on running again when his term runs out in 2026, a decision he made long before he decided to publicly endorse Harris.