Former Republican congresswoman Barbara Comstock endorsed Kamala Harris’s presidential bid on Sunday, joining another former Virginia representative in crossing party lines while the state’s GOP establishment remains firmly in Donald Trump’s camp.
“After Jan. 6, after Donald Trump has refused for four years to acknowledge that he lost, and his threats against democracy, I think it’s important to turn the page,” Comstock said during a CNN interview Sunday. “That’s why I will be voting for the vice president.”
This marks at least the second Republican from Virginia to break from the former GOP president in favor of Harris. Earlier this month, former congressman Denver Riggleman, who ran twice with Donald Trump’s backing but broke with him over the Jan. 6 insurrection, said he supported Harris for president. Like Comstock, he pointed to the violence on Jan. 6, 2021 and concern for the country’s democracy.
Comstock served as the representative for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District from 2015 to 2019. She clashed with Trump throughout her tenure. In 2016, Comstock called on Trump to drop out of the presidential race after the release of the Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump was heard bragging about groping women.
Later, Comstock broke with Trump when she voted against legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, The Washington Post reported. In 2018, Comstock also confronted Trump when she opposed his efforts to shut down the government to force a compromise on legislation to curb the violent street gang MS-13.
Comstock ultimately lost her reelection campaign in 2018 to Democrat Jennifer Wexton. Her supporters blamed Trump for the loss after he had become deeply unpopular in her northern Virginia swing district and she failed to shake her association to the president from her own party.
Before her time in Congress, Comstock had served three terms in the Virginia House of Delegates. She noted during the CNN interview Sunday that she did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020.
Despite Comstock and Riggleman’s break from Trump, Virginia’s GOP establishment remains largely behind the former president.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) spoke in fierce support of Trump at a rally in Chesapeake in June and vowed to help him win Virginia in November. However, Youngkin has avoided speaking on some of Trump’s most controversial positions, such as plans to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and halt student loan forgiveness.
Jenna Portnoy contributed to this report.
