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Republicans for Harris? Not on Capitol Hill.

Updated Sep 12, 2024, 2:40pm EDT
politicsNorth America
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters
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The News

Lisa Murkowski was impressed with Kamala Harris’ debate performance against Donald Trump this week.

That doesn’t mean Murkowski is considering an endorsement.

“I’m still really struggling with the policy perspectives that she brings to the table that for a state like mine are really hard. Really, really hard. So, I’m still ‘none of the above,’” the Alaska Republican senator told Semafor.

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Murkowski is one of a handful of GOP senators who are not supporting the former president in November; others in that camp include Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Todd Young of Indiana. None of those senators are backing Harris either, even as the Democratic nominee collects endorsements from former GOP officials whose Trump defections are delighting her party.

Alberto Gonzales, who served as attorney general under George W. Bush, became Republicans’ latest Harris backer on Thursday, joining former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney as GOP Harris supporters. It’s a different ballgame for sitting Republicans, however. Many of them will have to work directly with the loyalty-minded Trump next year if he wins – and have their own reelections to think about.

Young, for one, said after this week’s debate that he won’t talk politics until after polls close.

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“I’ve got nothing. Not adding anything, not subtracting. I’ve said something on it and what I’ve said I continue to say,” Romney told Semafor, referring to his previous comments ruling out a vote for Trump.

Still, Murkowski and Romney both lauded Harris for a successful debate on Tuesday, which many Republicans saw as a missed opportunity for Trump. Murkowski said she “saw a side of Kamala Harris that I’ve not seen before, which was a firm and clear kind of leadership presence.”

“Maybe that was just practiced and rehearsed for one time only. But I think it came across … that was news to me,” said Murkowski, who defeated a Trump-backed Republican challenger in 2022. “I’d never seen her in gatherings where she’s kind of talking leader-to-leader.”

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And just because Murkowski won’t back Harris doesn’t make her irrelevant to the Democratic nominee. Along with Collins, Romney and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, she’s one of only four Republicans still in the Senate who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment.

That alone makes her a potential cross-aisle ally for a Harris administration, a particularly valuable commodity given the possibility that the GOP takes the Senate majority this fall.

Of course, Harris doesn’t have the backing of all congressional Democrats either. Vulnerable incumbent Montana Sen. Jon Tester has declined to endorse Harris and said on Thursday he’s staying neutral because he doesn’t want to take his focus off of his state. The two retiring Senate independents who caucus with Democrats, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, haven’t backed Harris either.

“I’m never going to say never, no,” Manchin said in an interview, adding that “I would like to have a good conversation” with Harris. He wants to talk about the debt, energy policy and implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, but he made clear he’s a big fan of vice presidential nominee Tim Walz.

Another Democratic-aligned independent senator told Semafor he will weigh in eventually.

“I will. But I’ve been focused on the work here. There will be a time,” Maine Sen. Angus King said.

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Burgess’s view

It’s one thing for former elected officials to endorse across the aisle. It’s a much bigger deal for sitting senators or congressmen to endorse the opposing party’s nominee. Prior GOP Trump critics, from Mitch McConnell on down, have largely fallen in line with the former president, reasoning that party unity is the best way to enact conservative policies.

Even Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has technically not endorsed Trump, still makes clear he prefers him over Harris and is “supportive” of the GOP nominee.

Romney has the most political freedom of any Republican senator to cross Trump, since he’s retiring at the end of the year and will soon exit public service. He hasn’t gone there yet, however.

Even though there’s a slim possibility that a sitting Republican backs Harris in the waning days of the campaign, Trump-averse GOP lawmakers clearly see “none of the above” as the most pragmatic route.

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Notable

  • Cassidy won’t say if he’s voting for Trump, but he’s sure not backing Harris, Business Insider reports.
  • Republicans are dodging Trump’s lackluster debate showing, in a major shift from the Democratic despair over President Joe Biden’s stumble in March, per the Washington Post.
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