The Republican mayor of the third-largest city in Arizona came out in support of Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, calling in an op-ed in the Arizona Republic for his fellow conservatives to join him in backing her for president. Mesa Mayor John Giles invoked the late Sen. John McCain and his motto of “Country First” in making the case for Harris, saying that Republicans have “a moral and ethical responsibility” to choose country over party come November. Hailing Harris’ candidacy as a return to political “decency,” the mayor also praised her and President Joe Biden for their work investing in the battleground state’s economy, saying the pair “are delivering thousands of new jobs to Arizonans and helping us grow critical industries.” Giles, who has been mayor of Mesa since 2014, also took the opportunity to slam former President Donald Trump, saying he represents a “threat to democracy.” Ticking off the points against Trump, including his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Giles noted that the former president has done little to support the Grand Canyon State, preferring to exploit its immigration and border crises for “personal political gain.”
