A group of anti-Donald Trump Republican operatives and officials are forming an independent group to boost the chances of Gary Johnson and Bill Weld, who are running for president and vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket this year.
Kevin Martin, the former chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Massachusetts and the co-chairman of the group, said the effort is designed so Republicans “understand they have an alternative to voting for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.”
Martin said the group will work to “ensure the Johnson-Weld ticket is included on all 50 state ballots and included in the presidential debates.”
While they support Johnson-Weld in the presidential race, the group said they will support Republicans in down-ballot races.
“The way we see it, we are supporting the most Republican ticket on the ballot,” said Ed Lopez, a former national vice chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus who also will co-chair the group.
Both Johnson and Weld are former Republican governors.
Lopez said the “combined gubernatorial experience of the Johnson-Weld ticket as well as their fiscally conservative records and inclusive governing styles are most reflective of what the majority of Americans are desperately looking for in their leaders.”
Liz Mair, a Republican operative who briefly worked for Scott Walker’s presidential campaign last year, is also involved in the effort.
“I have long said that I can support neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton, on the grounds that neither sufficiently shares my philosophical principles, on the basis that I consider it highly likely that one or both will end up wearing an orange jumpsuit sooner or later, and because both present very serious risks to our national security,” Mair said.
Here are the other Republicans listed in a press release as making up the steering committee of the group:
- Martin Avila, CEO of Terra Eclipse and former Digital Campaign Director to former Rep. Ron Paul
- Moira Bagley Smith, former communications director to Sen. Rand Paul and multiple members of House GOP leadership
- Julie Germany, Interim Executive Director of the White Coat Waste Project and former COO of Generation Opportunity
- Mason Harrison, head of communications for Crowdpac and former strategist for the campaigns of Gov. Mitt Romney and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina
- Jon Henke, former adviser to US Sen. Fred Thompson, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and former Sen. George Allen
- Dawson Hodgson, former member, RI State Senate and former Rhode Island State Prosecutor
- Cyrus Krohn, former Republican National Committee e-Campaign Director
- Michael Melendez, former leader of Young Americans for Liberty in Utah and Utah State Central Committee member
- Lyle Stamps, attorney, former White House staffer, and leader of Latter-day Saints for Bush during the 2004 election cycle
- Michael Turk, President of Opinion Mover Strategies, and former Republican National Committee e-campaign director
- Luke Williams, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, Vice President at AECOM
- Dan Winslow, former Chief Legal Counsel to MA Gov. Mitt Romney, and former member, MA House of Representatives
- Keith Velia, finance industry leader, Republican Liberty Caucus of Connecticut Treasurer, Ridgefield Republican Town Committee Associate