Harris campaign staffs up to compete for unhappy GOP, persuadable independent voters

The Harris for Presidentcampaign said Sunday it has named more co-chairs in its effort to compete for disenchanted Republican and persuadable independent voters in Florida.

The three include Republicans Greg Wilson, who served in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and commentator Rich Logis. The third is former state Sen. Paula Dockery, a Republican while in the state Legislature but who left the party and registered as a Democrat in 2016.

The move coincides with the launch of Republicans for Harris, an effort to appeal to Republicans unhappy with former President Trump as the party's 2024 presidential nominee. It follows a particularly flinty Saturday night in which Trump widened a chasm with GOP leaders in neighboring Georgia, a state where Republican voter dissension cost Trump and the party dearly in the 2020 election.

During a rally at Georgia State University's campus in Atlanta, Trump tore into Republican Gov. Brian Kemp calling him a "bad guy," a "disloyal guy" and "a very average governor." The state's former lieutenant governor, Republican Geoff Duncan, a vocal Trump critic, then issued a blistering statement on social media.

“If you were able to see through Donald Trump’s incoherence and vindictiveness tonight, you saw a Donald Trump who does not care about uniting this country or speaking to the voters who will decide this election," Duncan wrote. "Millions of Americans are fed up with his grievance-filled campaign focused only on himself. Tonight we heard a particularly unhinged, angry version of the same Donald Trump that Georgia rejected in 2020."

In Florida, Harris to make pitch to 'moderate' GOP voters

Florida, by contrast, has presented a far more united GOP front since Gov. Ron DeSantis ended his bid for the presidential nomination in January.

But Austin Weatherford, who leads GOP voter outreach efforts for the vice president's campaign, said the broadening of the Florida leadership team reflects the ongoing goal to seek out independent and "moderate" Republican voters.

"The Harris campaign understands the power of showing up, making your case, and earning the support of a voter," Weatherford said in a statement. "That is the backbone of our program: showing up and taking the time every single day to earn the vote of Republicans who believe in putting country over party, and know that every American deserves a President who will protect their freedoms and a commander-in-chief who will put the best interests of the American people above their own."

Logis, who formerly backed Trump, said in the statement that he now sees the GOP nominee and former president as a polarizing political figure who has "eroded the very fabric of our democracy."

The Harris campaign, and before that, the Biden-Harris team, has eyed Florida Republicans unhappy with Trump's candidacy and nomination. In the March presidential preference primary, for example, Nikki Haley received almost 14% of the vote, just over 155,000 ballots.

Political strategists and analysts have debated whether those recalcitrant GOP voters would realign themselves with Trump come November. At last month's GOP convention, the party presented a united front, with Haley endorsing Trump in a primetime speech and exhorting those who voted for her to cast ballots for the Republican ticket.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Harris team eyes winning over 'never Trump' Florida Republican voters