You may have seen John Giles, a lifelong Republican and the mayor of Mesa, Arizona, speak at the Democratic National Convention in August. He leads a conservative city in a key swing state, but opposes GOP nominee Donald Trump and endorses Democrat Kamala Harris for president.
Other prominent Republicans have endorsed Ms. Harris, including former Rep. GOP Liz Cheney, former Vice President Dick Cheney (Ms. Cheney’s father), and former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. More than 100 former GOP officials, including some from the Trump administration, endorsed Ms. Harris in a letter this week.
Why we wrote this
Some prominent Republicans have endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in her quest for the presidency. John Giles, a conservative mayor in a border state, says it’s about moving beyond party affiliations and working in “the middle.”
Similar defections are notably absent from the other side, although ex-Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has joined Mr. Trump’s team. Harris’ campaign hopes the conservative endorsements will help win over swing Republicans and independents.
“I think she’s going to rule from the center, which is fine,” Mr. Giles says in explaining his decision. “Compromise is part of the government, and it has shown the ability to do this.”
You may have seen John Giles, a lifelong Republican and the mayor of Mesa, Arizona, speak at the Democratic National Convention in August. He leads a conservative city in a key swing state, but opposes GOP nominee Donald Trump and endorses Democrat Kamala Harris for president.
Other prominent Republicans have endorsed Ms. Harris, including former Rep. GOP Liz Cheney, former Vice President Dick Cheney (Ms. Cheney’s father), and former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. More than 100 former GOP officials, including some from the Trump administration Mrs. Harris agreed in a letter this week.
Similar defections are notably absent from the other side, although ex-Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has joined Mr. Trump’s team. The powerful Teamsters union — amid strong member support for the former president — has decided not to endorse either candidate this year. Harris’ campaign hopes the conservative endorsements will help win over swing Republicans and independents.
Why we wrote this
Some prominent Republicans have endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in her quest for the presidency. John Giles, a conservative mayor in a border state, says it’s about moving beyond party affiliations and working in “the middle.”
The Monitor sat down with Mr. Giles earlier this month in his City Hall office in Mesa, near Phoenix. With a panoramic view of Camelback Mountain as a backdrop, he talked about why he endorses the vice president and how it aligns with his Republican and religious values. Like many in Mesa, he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I think he’s going to rule from the center, which is fine,” he says. “Compromise is part of the government, and it has shown the ability to do this.”
The following interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity:
Why do you endorse Kamala Harris?
I need to back up a bit. I have been the mayor of my hometown for the last 10 years, and I have loved this job. And part of what I love is that I’m elected in a nonpartisan election, and I lead a diverse city council made up of progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans. We got on wonderfully well. And that’s because we don’t bring partisanship into the equation. We focus on the medium, and take a problem-solving approach.
I wade into partisan waters only very rarely, but I am forced to take a side in this presidential campaign because a second Donald Trump presidency would not be in the best interest of my city. Donald Trump made a lot of promises. None of them turned out to be true.
Can you delve into it?
Infrastructure is a huge issue for us. Under President Trump, “Infrastructure Week” has become a running gag. Literally nothing has happened in terms of federal involvement in helping with infrastructure.
During the Biden administration, we had the CHIPS act, which had this dramatic impact in the Phoenix area. TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), Intel, both are making multi-billion dollar investments in chip manufacturing facilities. Most of the supply chain economy that supports those fabs is in Mesa. Taiwan Semiconductor is literally making the largest foreign investment in US history here in Arizona. It’s because of the CHIPS Act, where there are federal funds involved. These investments have a generational impact. So the Biden administration deserves credit for that.
Likewise, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act – which has had a significant impact in Mesa, especially outside of our airport. We have a new terminal and a new air traffic control tower.
I want to ask about your own personal journey in this switch. Was there a turning point for you?
It was death by a thousand cuts. For the past few years, I’ve walked into the office and asked my staff, “Can I leave the Republican Party now?” But I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be a mistake to do that.
I continue to be in the Republican Party because I really identify more with Republican principles and the Republican emphasis on personal responsibility and smaller government. I think it is important that voices like mine do not leave the party but continue to point out its flaws in the hope of a system where we have two strong parties.
The Republican Party might be a lost cause. But having many strong parties is a cause worth fighting for. It is always important that there is a loyal opposition in the Republican Party.
How many shots did you receive?
Every time you’re in the national media and say something provocative, you’ll get hundreds of emails comparing you to a little brown emoji. I was censured two years ago by the local Republican Party, and I’ve been censured again. I expected all that. What surprised me the most is the positive reaction I got from strangers who came up to me and said: “You don’t know me, but I saw what you said. Thank you for giving voice to what I felt for the last few years.”
How do you square your conservative values with what Ms. Harris stands for?
Vice President Harris is very different from the candidate he was four years ago. The experience she had in the White House taught her the importance of governing from the middle. I’m not afraid of a Harris administration coming in and being this progressive, progressive administration that the Trump campaign is painting it to be.
The bipartisan immigration and border bill was very much a compromise. It was greenlit by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. And if there were votes, it was passed. Until Donald Trump decided it wasn’t in his best interest.
Kamala Harris has already said she would sign. To me, this is an indication that she is pragmatic.
The same is true of their economic policies. They are focused on food inflation, on housing affordability and availability, on real-life, middle-America issues. It is not a socialist agenda.
Donald Trump’s economic policies are worrying because he will impose tariffs. I don’t think that’s a very Republican policy. He has to create a housing supply by deporting millions of people. I don’t think that’s a smart policy that economists and Republicans approve of.
Mesa has many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to which he also belongs. Do your LDS values inform your politics?
For many years, people like me were taught in the church: “Hey, it’s okay to be a Democrat. It’s okay to be a Republican. Sometimes you need to zigzag between the two.” But there has been an underlying, perhaps less stated, emphasis on, really, you can’t be a Democrat because of abortion.
Now that Donald Trump has succeeded in overturning Roe and moving abortion from a federal issue to a state issue, there is no longer a need for people in my religious community, who felt compelled not to vote Democrat, out of any loyalty to the Republican Party on the issue of abortion. Sure, Kamala Harris is pro-choice, but do you think there will be 60 votes in the Senate for a national abortion bill? That hasn’t happened in 250 years. Not happening now.
He chairs the immigration task force for the United States Conference of Mayors. Do you see a path to immigration?
The short-term solution is that Donald Trump needs to lose this election, because he will continue to use the problem for political purposes. With this mentality in the White House, nothing will happen. Kamala Harris has already said that if elected, she will pick up where we left off with the bipartisan border bill.
The executive order may affect in some marginal ways the number of border crossers. Donald Trump, on this topic, was lucky to be president during the pandemic, because under Title 42 he could use the pandemic as an excuse to put limitations on border crossings. But executive orders are no substitute for congressional action.
If we just separate the political game from it, immigration is very simple.
But when we have things like, at the Republican convention, chanting for “mass deportation now,” it’s not helpful. Arizona is a great example of this. More than 20 years ago, when we had SB 1070 — where the state got involved in enforcing federal immigration laws — it was devastating to our economy.
The tradesmen, the skilled workers, were mainly immigrants. And when the state pulled people over for “driving while brown,” that had a chilling effect on the Hispanic community, and they left.
What difference do you think Republicans for Harris will make?
It will make a difference because, in Arizona, we are a very divided state. Joe Biden won the state by about 10,000 votes. The middle has to decide this. And so moderate Republicans, moderate Democrats, independents, former Republicans – this is the battleground in the battleground state.