In 2010, Ken Buck rode the Tea Party wave to win the Republican nomination for Colorado Senate, but proved too conservative for the state’s general election voters.
In 2022, Don Bolduc traveled a similar arc in the New Hampshire Senate race as an election denier who spun a conspiracy theory about Bill Gates and vaccines.
This week, Buck and Bolduc both endorsed Democrats for key offices in their respective states. Buck supported Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser for Colorado governor, while Bolduc supported Rep. Chris Pappas for New Hampshire Senate.
And they are part of a growing list of Republicans providing similar support.
Sometimes, endorsements are aimed at opposing the Republican Party’s achievements during the Trump era. But other times they seem somewhat personal.
The impact of any of these mentions could be limited. As the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris touted support from 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 are still remarkable.
The road to the 2026 midterm elections begins now
Buck’s support for Weiser is a little less surprising, given that the former congressman walked away from his party at the end of his House term in 2023 and 2024. Weiser’s Republican 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 violence and was a practice of self-defense.)
Bolduc’s decision will raise more eyebrows. The retired Army brigadier general is supporting former Sen. John E. Sununu’s standard Republican candidate. But Sununu’s brother, then governor. Chris Sununu supported Bolduc’s opponent in the 2022 primary and called Bolduc “not a serious candidate.”
Other prominent Republicans have also endorsed key Democratic candidates in 2026.
In Kansas, two former governors – Mike Hayden and Bill Graves – are supporting Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton over Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. Both criticized Marshall’s decision to follow Trump’s policies that they say are bad for Kansas and the country.
Flake, the former Arizona senator, endorsed Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff for re-election in Georgia against MAGA GOP Rep. Mike Collins.
Two former Republican National Committee chairmen have also supported Democratic congressional candidates in their states. Former Montana Governor Marc Racicot is supporting labor leader and former smoker Sam Forstag in the 1st District. And in Florida, former Sen. Mel Martinez announced Thursday that he is supporting former NASA chief of staff Bale Dalton in that state’s 7th District.
(Racicot, like Flake, has previously supported prominent Democrats.)
In Illinois, former House Republican leader Jim Durkin is supporting Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s re-election against Republican candidate Darren Bailey, with whom Durkin has previously clashed.
South Dakota Republican Secretary of State Monae Johnson is supporting the Democratic bid for her post after losing at her party’s convention. Johnson’s evolution is also interesting; During her 2022 campaign, she refused to say whether then-President Joe Biden legitimately defeated Trump in 2020 and ran on the basis of “election integrity,” as many election deniers were at the time.
In the high-profile Texas Senate race, a number of well-known Republicans are supporting Democratic state Rep. James Talarico against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose personal baggage has alienated many of the state’s conservatives.
And in perhaps the most shocking cross-endorsement, former George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove said he would support Democrat Jon Rosenthal for Texas railroad commissioner, over Republican Bo French. This happened after French posted an image of brown-skinned students at a University of Texas football game and complained about Americans being replaced by foreigners.
Rove said he has only voted for one other Democrat — as far back as 1994.
Crossover endorsements have also been reversed, with some well-known moderate Democrats, or former Democrats, supporting Republicans in key races.
Incumbent Maine Rep. Jared Golden recently announced he would support New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler for re-election. Former Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who became an independent before retiring from the Senate, endorsed Republican 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 Republican congressional candidate Jay Feely in her state, Axios reported.
But the GOP crossovers for Democrats are more numerous — and coming from more interesting places.
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