Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sen. Flake Says He’ll Write-In a Candidate Instead of Voting for Trump

The Washington Post

As recently as September, Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake had left open the possibility of voting for his party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump. Now, with less than a week before the election, the senator says he’ll instead vote for an unnamed write-in candidate. Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports.

Flake has spent much of the last year as one of Trump’s most outspoken Republican critics. The senator has slammed the New York businessman’s rhetoric on immigrants and women, as well as Trump’s attacks on fellow Arizona Republican, Senator John McCain.

Flake said in the past he’d be open to voting for Trump, if the GOP nominee changed the tenor of his campaign. But the senator says that hasn’t materialized.

“Donald Trump has gone out of his way to offend certain demographic groups, not to mention women. I think our party has kind of been hijacked by the nominee,” says Flake.

With Flake’s refusal to cast his vote for Trump, neither of Arizona’s Republican senators now support the GOP nominee. Last month, John McCain withdrew his endorsement after the release of a video in which Trump appeared to boast about sexually assaulting women.

McCain said in a recent debate he might write in Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on his ballot. 

Ryan Heinsius joined KNAU's newsroom as an executive producer in 2013 and became news director and managing editor in 2024. As a reporter, he has covered a broad range of stories from local, state and tribal politics to education, economy, energy and public lands issues, and frequently interviews internationally known and regional musicians. Ryan is an Edward R. Murrow Award winner and a Public Media Journalists Association Award winner, and a frequent contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and national newscast.
Related Content