WAUKESHA, Wis. – The mayor of Waukesha, a key Republican stronghold, told FOX6 News exclusively that he will vote for Democrat Kamala Harris for president.

It is a Republican city in Wisconsin’s largest Republican county.

Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly

Mayor Shawn Reilly grew up Republican and voted that way for most of his adult life.

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“It’s difficult. The easiest thing is to just say nothing and cast my vote however I want, but I think we are at a crossroads now,” Reilly said. “I feel in my heart that I need to express this and say: I will choose Vice President Harris to be our next president.”

Reilly voted third party in 2016 and President Joe Biden in 2020, but kept that to himself. He said of other officials that he “mostly” votes Republican.

Now this red city mayor is publicly endorsing blue for president.

“It’s a vote against Trump,” he said. “I am very afraid of Donald Trump becoming our next president for all the reasons I mentioned: He has already been impeached twice. He has been convicted of crimes and that is not what the United States needs.”

Reilly said he left the Republican Party on January 6, 2021, when supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol. He now joins other Republicans who have supported Harris. Former senior House Republican Liz Cheney campaigned with Harris in Brookfield this week, and Reilly clapped there.

Some switch parties in the other direction. Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard endorsed former President Donald Trump this year. She said he would help rid the world of war.

“It’s important for Republican Party leaders to go to places where they might not be in a dark red Republican state,” she said. “There’s a real opportunity here in this election to try to build those bridges and reach out to people who feel politically homeless and left behind.”

Trump won the city of Waukesha in both 2016 and 2020. In 2016, the margin was 11 points. In 2020, the lead shrank to 5.5 points.

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Trump won 17,000 more votes in Waukesha County in 2020 than he did in 2016, but his share in the county remained at about 60%. That’s worse than what other Republicans have won in this key district, including Gov. Scott Walker, who won 66% in 2018 and 72% in 2014. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won 66% in 2012.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming quoted FOX6 News as saying:

“Only voters who have already chosen Kamala Harris care one iota what a liberal like Shawn Reilly thinks.”

Vice President Kamala Harris

As for Reilly?

“I will accept the consequences for this,” he said. “There will be a lot of people who are not happy with what I say, and there will be a lot of people who are happy with what I have to say. But when you’re in this job, that’s your daily life, whatever.”

Waukesha re-elected him in 2022. He said he does not plan to run again after his term expires in 2026, a decision he made long before his public endorsement of Harris.