US GOP legislator defects to Democratic Party

&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"><br> After 35 unbroken years as a loyal member of Grand Old Party&comma; GOP&comma; &lbrace;Republican&rcub;&comma; an Iowa&&num;8217&semi;s longest-serving lawmaker&comma; Andy McKean&comma; has joined the Democrat Party&period;<br> Coming just ahead of US presidential election&comma; Mckean&comma; who revealed this on Tuesday&comma; stated that he took the painful decision because of President Donald Trump&comma; who he described as a &&num;8220&semi;a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br> Mckean has served in both Iowa&&num;8217&semi;s Senate and House chambers&period;<br> &&num;8220&semi;With the 2020 president election looming on the horizon&comma; I feel as a Republican that I need to be able to support the standard bearer of our party&period; Unfortunately&comma; that is not something I am able to do&comma;&&num;8221&semi; McKean said at a news conference&period;<br> &&num;8220&semi;He sets&comma; in my opinion&comma; a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children by personally insulting &&num;8212&semi; often in a crude and juvenile fashion &&num;8212&semi; those who disagree with him&comma; being a bully at a time when we we are attempting to discourage bullying&comma; his frequent disregard for the truth and his willingness to ridicule or marginalize people for their appearance&comma; ethnicity or disability&comma;&&num;8221&semi; McKean said&period;<br> McKean&&num;8217&semi;s explanation speaks to the political challenges facing some Republicans across the nation about whether to stand with a President who has brazenly disregarded the traditional norms of decorum that for centuries have defined the office&period; <br> His defection also comes soon after the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller&&num;8217&semi;s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election revealed a President and administration that frequently lie on an array of matters&period;<br> McKean&&num;8217&semi;s district sits in two rural&comma; blue-collar counties in Iowa &&num;8212&semi; Jones and Jackson&period; Because Iowa is both a perennial swing state and a battleground state&comma; it is often used as a litmus test for the direction both parties are moving &period; Though Trump has only one announced Republican challenger&comma; Iowa could be an important state for the President to win in the general election&period;<br> McKean&&num;8217&semi;s defection puts the Democrats four seats away from taking control of the Iowa House&comma; according to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee&period;<br> &&num;8220&semi;I believe that it is just a matter of time before our party pays a heavy price for President Trump&&num;8217&semi;s reckless spending and shortsighted financial policies&comma; his erratic&comma; destabilizing foreign policy and his disregard for environmental concerns&comma;&&num;8221&semi; McKean added&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;