This letter is for the millions of you out there who are unhappy with the status quo but have never voted for a Democrat and just don’t know if you can do it.
You’ve voted Republican your whole life. Maybe your parents did, too. You probably support many of the same policies I championed while in Congress: a strong national defense, in living within our means, in faith and family and the rule of law.
And yet here you are, reading this, on Election Day and struggling with what to do.
Like so many around the country, something has been bothering you for a while now. Maybe it was the Iran War that was supposed to last a few weeks. Maybe it was the prices of gas and groceries that were supposed to come down on day one. Maybe it was a moment when you saw the President do or say something and, in your gut, knew that’s not who we are. You probably haven’t said it out loud to many people. But you’ve thought it.
I want you to know that I understand, better than just about anyone.
I was a Republican for basically my entire life. In fact, I was the kid who wore Ronald Reagan t-shirts and waved political signs for fun in elementary school. I was one of the youngest members of Congress ever elected and I spent twelve years the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican.
So, when I tell you that the hardest political thing I’ve ever done was to stand up against my own party, that’s not rhetoric.
But it went further than a few tough votes. I voted to impeach a Republican president. And in 2024, I did something I never imagined I would. I stood on a stage at the Democratic convention and asked people to vote for a Democrat for president.
I’m not going to pretend that was easy. It felt like walking out of a house I’d lived in my whole life. But here’s what I learned: I didn’t leave my values behind when I did it. I took them with me. Put another way, those values were the reason I did it. And you wouldn’t be leaving yours behind either.
Think about what you actually believe in and then compare that to what you’ve watched over the last two years.
A cornerstone of the GOP mantra has always been that the government needs to live within its means, just like American families do. But last year, this Republican Congress passed a tax bill that showered its biggest benefits on the wealthiest Americans and added trillions of dollars to the debt our kids will inherit.
Belief in a strong national defense has gone hand in hand with fiscal responsibility as long as I can remember. And yet, you’ve watched Pete Hegseth fire respected generals and replace them with loyalists. Then, you learned our most advanced missiles have been recklessly used in the Iran War, leaving us years away from being able to counter threats from China. Not to mention that we’ve managed to alienate all our allies while cozying up to strongmen in Russia and China.
You believe in decency, in faith, in treating people the way you’d want to be treated. And this is where it becomes impossible to ignore. This administration is led by men who delight in cruelty and view public office as an opportunity to enrich themselves at levels we never would have imagined. From crypto schemes to foreign business deals, the list is long and brazen.
You know that isn’t conservatism. That’s not the party you joined. Ronald Reagan, who started out as a Democrat, used to explain his own switch with a simple line: he didn’t leave his party, his party left him. You’re standing in the same place today. You didn’t leave the Republican Party. It left you.
I also want to answer the worry I suspect is sitting in the back of your mind. You might be thinking, I don’t agree with the Democrats on a lot of things. What happens if I give them power?
Here’s the honest answer. There are policies where I don’t see perfectly eye to eye with Democrats either. But voting for a Democrat today doesn’t mean you’re signing up for everything they believe. It means you’re putting a check on federal power, which is about the most conservative idea there is.
The people who wrote our Constitution didn’t trust any one faction with unchecked power. They built a system where each branch is designed to restrain the impulses of the others.
For two years, the Congress that’s supposed to check this President has mostly looked the other away at even the worst abuses, much less providing the routine oversight that is their constitutional duty. One vote, one time, can put restore the check and balance that the Founding Fathers built into the very fabric of our government.
You can go right back to arguing with Democrats about taxes and spending next year.
And please don’t think you’re alone. Only about a third of Republicans now say they’re primarily supporters of Donald Trump. One in six people who voted for him in 2024 say they wouldn’t do it again. Over the last year, I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve stopped me on the street, started with “I’m a Republican, but,” and then told me they were done with what the party has become. There are millions of you. They haven’t all said so out loud yet.
Here’s the good news. You don’t have to say it out loud.
When you step into that booth, it’s just you. Nobody’s looking over your shoulder. Not your neighbor, not your brother-in-law, not anyone at church, not the guy at the hardware store with the hat. It’s you, your ballot, your conscience, and God. Whatever you decide in there is between the four of you.
I’m not going to tell you how to vote. That’s your call, and you’ve earned the right to make it. But I am asking you to do one thing: vote your conscience, not your habit. If you get in there and your gut tells you something has to change, listen to it. That voice is the best part of being an American because it’s the part of you that cares more about the country than about any party.
Whatever you decide, thank you for showing up. Thank you for thinking hard about it. And if you do make that choice today, the one you never thought you’d make, I want you to know something.
You won’t be leaving home. You’ll be helping save it.
— Adam
Thank you, Adam, for this great article and for all you do.
Words from an honorable man....May they be heeded today.