Gary Kendrick has been a Republican for 50 years.
He’s the longest-serving GOP council member in the entire San Diego region — in the deep red territory of El Cajon, California, no less.
Last week, he walked into a press conference and said he’s done.
“I just can’t stand what the Republican Party has become.” He’s switching to the Democratic Party.
A columnist for The Nation wrote about Gary’s defection this week: “When Trump has lost this guy, he’s in real trouble!”
Gary isn’t a progressive who was secretly waiting for permission to leave. He spent half a century defending Republican values. He was embedded in the party. He WAS the party in his community.
But he hit his limit. One lie too many. One betrayal too many.
I know that moment. For me, it came after a grueling year of being torn between my doubts and my loyalty to the cause. I finally reached the point where I couldn’t defend MAGA or Trump anymore.
Gary’s moment came last week. The government’s brutal deportation campaign was the last straw for him. “Kids are afraid to go to school because they’re afraid their parents won’t be there when they get back,”he said.
“Pregnant women are afraid to go to the doctor because they’re afraid they might get arrested. This should not be happening in America…you just can’t look the other direction while bad things are going on.”
For a three-time Trump voter on C-SPAN, it was Trump’s racist Obama post. For others, it’s the attempted cover-up of the Epstein files. Some are angry about Trump’s military aggression.
Everyone has a red line. And when they reach it, we need to be there.
HELP US REACH THE NEXT GARY KENDRICK
Your $10 or $25 helps us stay visible at exactly the moment someone like Gary hits their breaking point. Mobile billboards. Events. A community ready to catch them.
We’ve got nine months. Every Trump voter who walks away now is one fewer MAGA voter in November.
Help us reach the next Gary Kendrick at the moment they hit their limit.
Thanks for being with us on this odyssey,
Rich
P.S. My full-length Leaving MAGA book drops on Amazon later this month — you’ll be the first to know.
