Iowa State Representative Andy McKean has announced that he has left the Republican Party and joined the Democrats in the state legislature.
Andy McKean Leaves The Republican Party
Iowa Starting Line reported, “A moderate Republican, McKean split with his party on many key votes in recent years, including the 2017 collective bargaining and workers compensation bills. He was the only Republican earlier this year to side with Democrats on an amendment to a proposed constitutional amendment on gun rights. He also joined Democrats last week in voting against a bill that allowed stun guns on college campuses. And McKean was the sole Republican to oppose the party’s push to change how the process of selecting judges in Iowa.”
Iowa Starting Line also tweeted from McKean’s press conference:
Andy McKean joins the Democratic Party. He’ll re-register as a Democrat later this week back home pic.twitter.com/VXqAkwB0TG
— Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) April 23, 2019
State Rep. Andy McKean on his decision to join Democrats: “Upon returning to Des Moines after a 15 year hiatus, I found a very different place … I found a very changed Republican caucus.” pic.twitter.com/9ZxUgGOAKg
— Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) April 23, 2019
Iowa State Rep. Andy McKean, who is switching from R to D: “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.” pic.twitter.com/apHmZJifNG
— Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) April 23, 2019
Moderates Are Fleeing Trump’s Extremist Party
Moderates are being forced out of the Republican Party. There is simply no place in Trump’s party for a moderate who might vote with Democrats. For all the media chatter of “Democratic extremism” one doesn’t see Democrats leaving the party on a regular basis to become Republicans. The extremist movement in American politics is on the right. There is a home for moderates in the Democratic Party.
Moderates were the force that powered Democrats to victory in 2018, and if Democrats are successful in 2020 they will be difference makers in taking back the Senate, the White House and keeping the House.
The current Republican Party bears no resemblance to the GOP under George W. Bush. The party has been rebuilt in the image of Trump. The Republican Party is small, white, and extremely far right.
Rep. McKean isn’t a quirk. He is part of an ongoing trend of sane Republicans leaving the burning building that is Trump’s GOP.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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