Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz exit the stage after speaking during a campaign rally on Aug. 7, 2024 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Harris announced yesterday that Walz would join her campaign as her running mate. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
For Clint Taylor, for years the extent of his engagement in politics had just been filling in circles on ballots, he said. But now, he’s active in political advocacy, encouraging people to shift support from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump this year — despite having voted for Trump in 2016 himself.
Taylor decided to back President Joe Biden in 2020 and will support Vice President Kamala Harris this year, he said. It’s a move that some Virginia Republicans are making as they seek a candidate whose values align more closely with their own.
“There must be other Republicans like me out there that are uncomfortable with Trump,” Taylor said in a call. “I just want to tell them that you don’t have to vote for him.”
The Fairfax County lawyer also offered up a testimonial video for a campaign called Republican Voters Against Trump.
The website features videos from Republicans or former Trump voters around the country sharing why they’re not voting for Trump in this year’s presidential election, according to Rylee Boyd, a campaign spokesperson. Some of the participants voted for Trump during his 2016 or 2020 campaigns, or both, before deciding they can no longer support him. The campaign is investing $50 million in digital advertisements and outreach with a focus on swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
A supporter of former president Donald Trump wears a “Make America Great Again” hat while attending a rally for Trump’s reelection campaign in Chesapeake on June 28, 2024 (Charlotte Rene Woods / Virginia Mercury)
Jeff Ryer, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign in Virginia, is skeptical of some of the video participants. He noted how Virginia doesn’t have party registration when signing up to vote.
“I am anxious to hear exactly what leads some of these individuals to identify as Republicans,” he said. “As was the case in 2016 and 2020, President Trump is the Republican nominee this year. Might I suggest that if they’ve yet to vote for him and plan on voting against him this year, they may never have been Republicans in the first place.”
Taylor once considered himself more of a Republican, having grown up in a conservative bastion in Texas, and he agrees with the party’s fiscally conservative approach to governance. But he doesn’t think Trump’s plans to further cut corporate tax rates will be able to benefit people widely. More than policy, he is concerned about Trump’s temperament as a national leader and his influence within the Republican party.
Two pivotal moments for Taylor came when Trump referred to the Nazis and white supremacists that violently marched through Charlottesville as “very fine people” and when a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 following Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results.
“I couldn’t believe that this man said that,” he said in his video. “It still gets me riled up today that he would defend those torch-wielding Nazis.”
Trump’s connections to authoritarian leaders of other countries also concerns Taylor, a sentiment shared by Washington County resident Greg Hawley, who also submitted a testimonial to Republican Voters Against Trump.
As a military veteran and retired school teacher, Hawley wants to peacefully enjoy his retirement years. However, he’s been “fretting over this election.”
Hawley said he’s been concerned about Trump’s growing influence on the Republican party along with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank’s, influence on Trump.
“The writings are on the wall,” he said of the foundation’s presidential playbook, “Project 2025,” and of actions Trump has already taken that align with some of it.
Hawley points to how Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court picks stemmed from Heritage Foundation and Federalist Society recommendations — all of whom upheld Roe v. Wade as federal law during confirmations hearings before ultimately ruling to undo the federal abortion protections.
Hawley sees the ability to get an abortion as “primarily a healthcare issue” and he worries how much Trump might tap into the rest of the playbook. On abortion alone, chapter 14 entails employing a long-dormant federal law to further restrict abortion medication and mailing of abortifacients. Critics and reproductive rights advocates have said this could pave the way for a national ban.
Trump has distanced himself from the blueprint, despite his ties to several of its authors. The foundation has previously published presidential playbooks dating back to President Ronald Reagan, and touted how Trump utilized previous guidance during his first term as president.
Hawley is also worried about a statement Trump made this summer at a gathering where he told people that “in four years, [they] won’t have to vote again.”
Hawley said that moments like that are where he believes Trump has “let it slip” that he would move towards a more “strong arm government.”
Pushback from politicians
At the Democratic National Convention earlier this month, a handful of Republicans, including former Trump administration officials, offered support for Harris’ campaign. Some high-profile conservative leaders in Virginia are backing Harris as well. Former Republican 10th District Rep. Barbara Comstock said in an interview earlier this month that she will be voting for Harris and former 5th District Rep. Denver Riggleman hosted a campaign event at his distillery.
“After Jan. 6, after Donald Trump has refused for four years to acknowledge that he lost, and his threats against democracy, I think it’s important to turn the page,” Comstock said.
In an interview with The Mercury, Riggleman said he believes that independent and Republican voters feeling frustrated with Trump can help give her an edge.
“What it comes down to is the moral depravity of that man — what he’s done against our democratic institutions,” Riggleman said in a call with Virginia Mercury. “But also his treatment of women, his treatment of immigrants, and what he says about them, his words about military veterans. You get that feeling that this is just a narcissist who only cares about himself.”
A new poll out of Roanoke College shows Harris has a slight lead over Trump. It’s among the first polling since Harris became the new Democratic candidate following Biden dropping out of the race. Democratic strategists see pathways to victory for Harris given her support for reproductive rights and past experience in politics and as a prosecutor.
Meanwhile, Ryer called Riggleman and Comstock “lapsed Republicans” that are endorsing Democrats to seek “fawning press coverage and appearances on MSNBC.”
Riggleman also said Trump’s presence looms too large over the party he was once represented. He noted how the contest between his congressional successor U.S. Rep. Bob Good, R-Farmville and challenger John McGuire hinged largely on whoever appeared to have the most fealty to Trump rather than policy debates. (McGuire defeated Good, an outcome confirmed after a lengthy recount process and extra court review of ballots in five precincts.) Riggleman also pointed to how Virginia U.S. Senate candidate Hung Cao — who hopes to unseat Democrat Tim Kaine — emerged from a crowded GOP candidate pool with Trump’s endorsement.
“It goes to show where the Republican Party of Virginia is right now,” Riggleman said. “[It’s] so damaged in this state that Cao could get through the nomination process.”
Kaine and Harris will have Riggleman’s vote this year and while the 5th District is reliably Republican and poses an uphill battle for McGuire’s democratic challenger Gloria Witt, Riggleman said he’s considering voting for her, too.
This doesn’t mean he always agrees with Democrats on policy, he said, but “at least they don’t want to overturn our Democratic institutions.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX