A growing number of prominent Republicans are endorsing Democrats in 2026

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In 2010, Ken Buck rode the tea party wave to win Colorado’s Republican Senate nomination but proved too conservative for the state’s general-election voters.

In 2022, Don Bolduc rode a similar arc in the New Hampshire Senate race as an election-denier who spouted a conspiracy theory about Bill Gates and vaccines .

This week, both Buck and Bolduc endorsed Democrats for major statewide offices in their respective states. Buck backed Democratic state Attorney General Phil Weiser for Colorado governor, while Bolduc backed Rep. Chris Pappas for Senate in New Hampshire.

And they’re part of a growing list of Republicans making similar crossover endorsements.

Sometimes the endorsements are about opposing the GOP’s Trump-era exploits. But other times, they appear somewhat personal.

The impact of any of these endorsements could be limited. As the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris touted the support of Republicans including former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Rep. Liz Cheney and former Sen. Jeff Flake, among other Republicans, and she still lost. But they’re notable all the same.

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Buck’s endorsement of Weiser is a little less surprising, given the former congressman drifted away from his party late in his House tenure in 2023 and 2024. Weiser’s GOP opponent, Victor Marx, is also a highly unorthodox candidate who recently spoke openly about slamming his wife against a door . (His wife says it was not domestic abuse and that it was self-defense practice.)

Bolduc’s move will raise more eyebrows. The retired Army brigadier general is endorsing against a standard-issue Republican nominee in former Sen. John E. Sununu. But Sununu’s brother, then-Gov. Chris Sununu, endorsed Bolduc’s opponent in the 2022 primary and called Bolduc “ not a serious candidate .”

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Other prominent Republicans have also endorsed key Democratic candidates in 2026.

In Kansas, two former governors — Mike Hayden and Bill Graves — are backing Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton over GOP Sen. Roger Marshall. Both criticized Marshall’s decision to go along with Trump policies that they argue are bad for Kansas and the country.

Flake, the former Arizona senator, has backed Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff for reelection in Georgia over MAGA GOP Rep. Mike Collins.

Two former chairmen of the Republican National Committee have also endorsed Democratic congressional candidates in their states. Former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot is backing union leader and former smokejumper Sam Forstag in the 1st District. And in Florida, former Sen. Mel Martinez announced Thursday that he’s backing former NASA chief of staff Bale Dalton in that state’s 7th District.

(Racicot, like Flake, has backed prominent Democrats before.)

In Illinois, former GOP state House leader Jim Durkin is backing Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker for reelection over Republican nominee Darren Bailey, with whom Durkin has clashed before .

Republican South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson is endorsing the Democrat running for her job after losing at her party’s convention. Johnson’s evolution is also interesting ; she had in her 2022 campaign declined to say whether then-President Joe Biden had legitimately defeated Trump in 2020 and ran on “election integrity” like many election-deniers were at the time.

In the high-profile Texas Senate race, a number of well-known Republicans are backing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose personal baggage has alienated many conservatives in the state.

And in perhaps the most shocking crossover endorsement, former George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove said he would back Democrat Jon Rosenthal for Texas railroad commissioner over Republican Bo French. That came after French posted an image of brown-skinned students at a University of Texas football game and complained about the replacement of Americans by foreigners.

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Rove said he had only voted for one other Democrat — all the way back in 1994.

Crossover endorsements have gone the other way, too, with some well-known moderate Democrats, or former Democrats, backing Republicans in key races.

Retiring Maine Rep. Jared Golden recently announced he would back New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler for reelection. Former Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who became an independent before retiring from the Senate, backed GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. And former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who also became an independent, is supporting GOP congressional candidate Jay Feely in her state, Axios reported .

But the GOP crossovers for Democrats are more numerous — and come from more interesting places.

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2010 年，肯·巴克乘着茶党运动的浪潮赢得了科罗拉多州共和党参议员提名，但事实证明，他的立场对于该州的大选选民来说过于保守。

2022 年，唐·博尔杜克在新罕布什尔州参议员竞选中也经历了类似的历程，他否认选举结果，并散布有关比尔·盖茨和疫苗的阴谋论。

本周，巴克和博尔杜克都公开支持民主党候选人竞选各自所在州的重要州级职位。巴克支持科罗拉多州民主党籍州检察长菲尔·韦瑟竞选州长，而博尔杜克则支持新罕布什尔州众议员克里斯·帕帕斯竞选参议员。

而且，他们是越来越多做出类似跨党派支持的共和党人中的一部分。

有时，这些背书是为了反对共和党在特朗普时代的种种行径。但有时，它们似乎带有一些个人恩怨。

这些背书的影响可能有限。作为2024年民主党总统候选人，卡玛拉·哈里斯曾大力宣传包括前副总统迪克·切尼、前众议员利兹·切尼和前参议员杰夫·弗莱克在内的多位共和党人的支持，但她最终还是落败了。不过，这些背书仍然值得关注。

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考虑到前国会议员韦瑟在2023年和2024年众议院任期后期逐渐脱离了共和党，巴克对韦瑟的支持也就不那么令人意外了。韦瑟的共和党对手维克多·马克思也是一位非常另类的候选人，他最近公开谈论过自己把妻子摔到门上的事。（他的妻子称这并非家庭暴力，而是自卫。）

博尔杜克的举动无疑会引起更多关注。这位退役陆军准将公开反对共和党传统候选人、前参议员约翰·E·苏努努。但苏努努的弟弟，时任州长克里斯·苏努努，曾在2022年党内初选中支持博尔杜克的对手，并称博尔杜克“并非一位严肃的候选人”。

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其他一些知名的共和党人也公开支持了2026年民主党的重要候选人。

在堪萨斯州，两位前州长——迈克·海登和比尔·格雷夫斯——支持民主党牧师亚当·汉密尔顿，而非共和党参议员罗杰·马歇尔。两人都批评马歇尔支持特朗普的政策，认为这些政策对堪萨斯州和国家都不利。

前亚利桑那州参议员弗莱克支持民主党参议员乔恩·奥索夫在佐治亚州连任，而不是支持“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）的共和党众议员迈克·柯林斯。

两位前共和党全国委员会主席也分别公开支持各自所在州的民主党国会候选人。蒙大拿州前州长马克·拉西科特支持工会领袖、前跳伞消防员萨姆·福斯塔格竞选第一选区。而在佛罗里达州，前参议员梅尔·马丁内斯周四宣布，他将支持前美国国家航空航天局（NASA）幕僚长贝尔·道尔顿竞选该州第七选区。

（拉西科特和弗莱克一样，此前也曾支持过一些知名的民主党人。）

在伊利诺伊州，前共和党州众议院领袖吉姆·杜尔金支持民主党州长JB·普里茨克竞选连任，而不是共和党候选人达伦·贝利，杜尔金之前曾与贝利发生过冲突。

南达科他州共和党籍州务卿莫奈·约翰逊在党内大会上落败后，转而支持民主党候选人竞选她的职位。约翰逊的立场转变也颇为耐人寻味；在她2022年的竞选活动中，她曾拒绝就时任总统乔·拜登是否合法击败特朗普发表意见，并像当时许多否认选举结果的人一样，以“选举公正”为竞选纲领。

在备受瞩目的德克萨斯州参议员竞选中，一些知名的共和党人支持民主党州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科 (James Talarico) 对抗州检察长肯·帕克斯顿 (Ken Paxton)，后者因个人问题疏远了该州的许多保守派人士。

或许最令人震惊的是，前小布什政府战略顾问卡尔·罗夫表示，他将支持民主党候选人乔恩·罗森塔尔竞选德克萨斯州铁路专员，而不是共和党候选人博·弗伦奇。此前，弗伦奇发布了一张德克萨斯大学橄榄球赛上肤色较深的学生的照片，并抱怨美国人被外国人取代。

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罗夫说他只投过一次票给另一位民主党人——那是在1994年。

跨党派背书的情况也反过来出现了，一些知名的温和派民主党人或前民主党人在关键竞选中支持共和党人。

即将卸任的缅因州众议员贾里德·戈尔登近日宣布，他将支持纽约州共和党众议员迈克·劳勒竞选连任。西弗吉尼亚州前参议员乔·曼钦在卸任前成为独立人士，他支持缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯和宾夕法尼亚州众议员布莱恩·菲茨帕特里克。据Axios报道，同样成为独立人士的亚利桑那州前参议员克里斯滕·西内玛则支持该州共和党国会候选人杰伊·菲利。

但从共和党转投民主党的人数更多，而且来源也更有趣。