The Independent mayor of Waukesha, Wisconsin, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, giving the Democrat candidate a bipartisan boost in a battleground state.
Shawn Reilly, who has served as mayor of Waukesha since 2014, publicly announced his endorsement of Harris in a statement.
"It would be easier for me to stay quiet and vote my conscience privately, but the stakes of this election are so important that I feel compelled to share publicly that I am voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and I encourage other Wisconsinites who care about our country to do the same," Reilly said.
Waukesha voted overwhelming for Trump in 2020 at 60%.
Reilly, 63, became an independent after being a Republican most of his life after the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. He told the New York Times he had never endorsed a Democrat.
"Donald Trump poses a unique danger to American democracy — even his own advisers have said that he's unfit to be President of the United States," Reilly said. "A second term would be even more dangerous than the first because there would be no guardrails. We can't allow him to sit in the Oval Office again."
Wisconsin Republican state Sen. Robert Cowles also endorsed Harris, calling Trump a "totalitarian" and "very much a fascist."
According to a poll released Wednesday from Quinnipiac, Harris and Trump are tied at 48% in Wisconsin.