Iowa's Longest-Serving Republican Switches Parties Because of Trump

The lawmaker, Rep. Andy McKean, served a combined 24 years in the Iowa House and Senate between 1979 and 2003 and then returned to the Legislature in 2017. At a news conference Tuesday, he said he could not support Trump moving forward, in part because he found the president’s spending to be “reckless,” his foreign policy “erratic” and “destabilizing” and his disregard for the environment concerning.

He also attacked Trump’s demeanor, saying that he sets a poor example by insulting and bullying those he disagrees with and ridiculing and marginalizing people based on their appearance and ethnicity.

“I believe that his actions have coarsened political discourse, have resulted in unprecedented divisiveness and have created an atmosphere that is a breeding ground for hateful rhetoric and actions,” McKean said. “Some would excuse this behavior as ‘telling it like it is’ and the new normal. If this is the new normal, I want no part of it.

“Unacceptable behavior should be called out for what it is,” he added, “and Americans of all parties should insist on something far better in the leader of their country and the free world.”

With his announcement, McKean, 69, became one of several state lawmakers who have abandoned the Republican Party in recent months, citing Trump as a factor. At least four state lawmakers in Kansas switched allegiances after the midterms, as have a California Assembly member and a state senator in New Jersey.

The opposite has occasionally happened as well. For instance, Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia was hailed by Trump when he announced he would become a Republican in 2017, months after being elected as a Democrat. (Justice had been a registered Republican before that.)

McKean represents a swing area of eastern Iowa where Trump won convincingly in 2016. He said Tuesday that he plans to seek re-election as a Democrat in 2020. He did not respond to requests for an interview.

But asked by reporters how he plans to explain the change to his constituents, he said: “I fully expect there will be some ramifications.”

Indeed, Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, criticized McKean, saying that he had made “a commitment to the voters” of his district, who had elected him as a Republican, and that by changing parties, he had violated their trust.

“It’s disappointing that he felt the need to deceive Iowans,” Kaufmann wrote on Twitter. “If the people of District 58 can’t trust him on something as simple and fundamental as what party he belongs to, how can they trust him on any issue.”

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to state legislatures, praised the move. Its executive director, Jessica Post, called McKean “courageous” and noted that Democrats are now four seats away from taking control of the Iowa House.

McKean emphasized that his choice was difficult, but he said that when he returned to Des Moines in 2017, after his long hiatus, he “found a very different place,” that was “more partisan and regimented.”

The Republican caucus had changed significantly, he added, and he felt increasingly uncomfortable within it. Still, McKean apologized to his Republican colleagues for not having been “a better team player.”

“I might have limped along, attempting to work within my caucus for what I felt was in the best interest of the people I represent, if it hadn’t been for another factor,” he said.

“With the 2020 presidential election looming on the horizon, I feel as a Republican that I need to be able to support the standard-bearer of our party. Unfortunately, that is something I’m unable to do.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.