(NewsNation) — Vice President Kamala Harris says she wants to be a president for all Americans. Some Republicans are counting on it.
The Harris-Walz campaign, and at least one outside group, is making a concerted effort to reach out to Republicans, including those who supported Nikki Haley in the primaries.
The overall messaging is three-pronged: that Harris has moderated her views and is welcoming new voices, that a vote for Harris is a vote to save democracy and that a Harris win is actually the last chance to save the Republican Party and prevent a full MAGA takeover.
On Friday, the Republican co-chair of Nikki Haley’s Iowa leadership team, Dawn Roberts, announced her endorsement of Harris in a piece published in the Des Moines Register, saying she liked that Harris has “showed willingness to listen to a wider range of views to solve problems” and wants to earn everyone’s support.
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While Haley, the former ambassador who ran for the GOP nomination for president and lost, has endorsed former President Donald Trump, it appears that a percentage of her supporters are open to voting for a Democrat.
The organization, Haley Voters For Harris, is making a direct play for those voters. They’ve recently announced operations in Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona as well as their work in Pennsylvania.
The director, Robert Schwartz, said that in addition to “targeted digital ads and the mailers and the text messages, what you try to do is create a campaign to get the word out,” including speaking with local media and networking with the opinion-makers who can spread their message.
Schwartz explained that they try to assuage some Republican concerns when it comes to Harris’ policies by sharing two main points: that Harris has moderated some of her positions and that the GOP is likely to win a majority in the Senate, which can prevent any potential “radical agenda.”
Schwartz has moved to Michigan to spearhead operations there, hoping to reach the almost 300,000 people who voted for Haley in the primary. In Wisconsin, that number is almost 77,000, and in Arizona, over 110,000 people chose Haley.
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The Arizona chapter is being led in part by Dawn Giles, the wife of Mesa’s Republican mayor, John Giles. In a statement, she said she was a proud Haley voter who now looks forward to engaging with other Haley voters to encourage them to vote for Harris. She also said, “Harris has adopted moderate positions” and prioritized outreach to Arizona Republicans.
Mayor Giles has also endorsed Harris and was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention last month. At the time, he said, “We need an adult in the White House,” that Trump couldn’t deliver a thing when president and that it was time to put country over party and vote for Harris.
In 2020, President Joe Biden won Arizona by less than 11,000 votes. So, even convincing a relatively small percentage of those voters to choose Harris could make a difference.
Other Republicans were also given prime speaking roles at the DNC, including former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, former Trump administration official Olivia Troye and former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan. They all called on other members of the GOP to join them in supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Duncan said that Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election made him realize that “Trump was a direct threat to democracy.” Duncan further noted that while he doesn’t agree with every Harris policy position, she’s a steady hand that will bring leadership to the White House that Donald Trump could never do.
“If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you’re not a Democrat. You’re a patriot,” Duncan said.
Duncan is set to campaign on behalf of the Harris-Walz ticket in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, next Tuesday along with former GOP Rep. Joe Walsh. Lancaster is a county that Trump won in 2020 but one where the Harris-Walz campaign hopes to make inroads. Part of their campaign strategy is to lose by less in counties that typically have voted Republican.
Walsh has been an outspoken Republican voice against Donald Trump. He speaks to his almost half a million followers on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, encouraging independents and Republicans to vote for Harris-Walz. He also joined a Harris-Walz campaign call this week, where he talked about the messaging he finds works best with Republicans.
“The only way to get it back is for Trump to lose. And in fact, the only way to try to get it back is for Trump to get his butt spanked. I mean, to lose in a big, big way. … Republicans, you’re better than Trump thinks you are,” Walsh said.
Former South Carolina GOP Rep. Bob Inglis also endorsed Harris this week, along with more than 100 Republican former national security officials. In a letter announcing their support of Harris, they called Donald Trump “unfit to serve.”
The Trump campaign is not mincing words when it comes to pushing back against the Harris outreach.
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, said, “President Trump is building a historic unified movement to make America great again. He’s been endorsed by Nikki Haley, RFK Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard. President Trump will continue prosecuting the case against Kamala Harris as more moderates and independents realize Kamala Harris is a dangerous liberal who wants to ban guns, supports freeing violent criminals into our communities, and keeping our border wide open to deadly drugs and criminals. This election is about freedom vs communism.”
In an election that’s expected to be extremely close or won on the margins, both campaigns are fighting for every last vote.
