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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — What would Jeff Flake, a long-time conservative who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, say to himself from a decade ago, when he served as a conservative representative and senator?
A reporter asked Flake this question at a Get-Out-The-Vote event outside Indian Bend Wash Visitor Center, an early voting center, on Wednesday afternoon, with about 80 Republicans for Harris supporters in attendance.
"We have a lot of Republicans who believe in limited government, economic freedom, individual responsibility, strong American leadership abroad," Flake said as he glanced at the supporters standing behind him, and they all cheered in agreement.
Here's why Jeff Flake supports Kamala Harris
Flake said Harris stands for all those things and believes that bipartisanship is the way forward on issues surrounding the border. "That's me 12 years ago. I felt the same way," he added.
"Principled conservatism" entails assessing a candidate and not blindly following party lines, Flake said. "I am supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, not in spite of being a conservative Republican, but because I am a conservative Republican."
"Conservative Republicans believe first and foremost in the rule of law," and that means respecting the results of an election, said Flake, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "I know she would never use the powers of the presidency to overturn an election that she did not win."
The one-term senator from Arizona said he served on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Harris and in the House with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during his six terms as a representative.
More recently, Flake served as the U.S. ambassador to Turkey for two years until he left the post in September. He represented the U.S. through the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts during his time as ambassador for the Biden administration.
Mesa Mayor John Giles: 'We want our party back'
Mesa Mayor John Giles, a Latter-day Saint and a Republican who endorsed Harris in August, said, "If I were talking to Jeff Flake 12 years ago, what I would say is, 'Jeff, Kamala Harris is a better Republican than Donald Trump.' I'm dead serious."
Giles has campaigned for Harris across Arizona and also spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He is a part of the Latter-day Saints for Harris-Walz advisory committee, as well as the Republicans for Harris-Walz leadership group, as the Deseret News previously reported.
The Harris-Walz operation will carry on its grassroots effort of pursuing the "politically homeless," or those who feel "shut out" by the Republican Party during the last few days of the 2024 election, the mayor said.
If I were talking to Jeff Flake 12 years ago, what I would say is, 'Jeff, Kamala Harris is a better Republican than Donald Trump.' I'm dead serious.
– John Giles, mayor of Mesa, Ariz.
"We want our party back. We want to have a party that we can be proud of. We want our children to be able to go to political rallies. We want to be able to point to political figures as people that our children ought to aspire to be more alike," said Giles, "and all of that has been taken away from us by the Republican Party, the MAGA Republican Party of Donald Trump."
Flake said he doesn't know if he should feel optimistic about the present state of the Republican Party. Trump loyalists aren't going anywhere, but more people are leaving the GOP.
"We have chosen to stay and to and to object and to try to reclaim the party," he said. "The independents are now the fastest growing party," adding, the likes of Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake are steering the ship in the wrong direction.
Scottsdale Mayor Sam Campana and Tim Riester, a businessman and the vice chairman of the Phoenix Rising, a soccer team, also made statements.
Why are Republicans showing up for Harris?
Roberta L. Voss, a real estate agent who served in the Arizona House of Representatives between 1997 and 2003, told the Deseret News she agreed with Flake, saying that supporting a principled Democrat when the Republican option doesn't represent the GOP's beliefs is the obvious choice — "and that's why I came out." Voss held her ballot and a stack of flyers from Arizona Republicans for Harris in her hands. The flyers — with the title "Why would a conservative person of faith vote for Harris" — outlined Harris' platform, while touting the backing she receives from conservatives.
On abortion, it says, "Harris trusts women to make the right choice," and that "like Liz and Dick Cheney, you can disagree with Harris" on this issue but agree with her on others.
Rick Biers, the owner of a valuation and appraisal services business, who stood next to Voss, holding his own stack of flyers, said Trump lacks the necessary civility, adding he felt disgusted after he heard the remarks about Puerto Ricans made at a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden, N.Y.
Voss and Biers, both residents of Scottsdale, get pushback from their conservative friends. "We do, but we don't care," said Biers. "We put up lots of signs, Republicans for Harris, and the Trump supporters take them down ... in spite of the fact that, you know, it's against the law to do that."
But, he added, "I find a whole lot more support than I do pushback."
