They're conservative, they oppose Trump. But some are at odds over whether to vote for Kamala Harris

In the last two U.S. presidential elections, a number of seniorRepublicans opposed to Donald Trump's candidacy indicated they would not be voting for the party's nominee.

They also indicated they would not be voting for the Democratic candidate. Instead, many decidedto write in another candidate'sname. For example, formerRepublican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he wrote in his wife's name in 2016; George W. Bush said that in 2020, hewrote in former Secretary of State CondoleezzaRice.

However,in 2024, there appears to be a shift among some Republicans, whohave announced theywill be marking an X beside the name of Democratic candidate Vice-President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election.

Rylee Boyd, spokespersonfor Republican Voters Against Trump told CBC News thatthere are certainly more Republicans coming out to support Harris than came out for Biden in 2020.

"I just think, at this point, everyone knows how much of a threat Donald Trump is," she said, adding that many of these Republicansare coming to terms with the fact that there isn't a place for them in the current Republican Party.

"And if there was ever going to be some type of normal Republican Party in the future, Donald Trump needs to be defeated for that to even be possible."

WATCH | Group of anti-Trump Republicans campaign against him in swing states:

Group of anti-Trump Republicans launches ad campaign in 5 swing states

26 days ago

Duration 2:59

A group called Republican Voters against Trump is running TV and billboard ads in five key swing states, seeking to persuade people who have previously voted for Donald Trump to switch their vote to Kamala Harris or to stay home on election day.

Some say endorsing Harris goes too far

But forsome anti-Trump conservatives,endorsing Harris is a bridge too far.

"I don't think it's good, frankly, for these Republicans who have been coming out and affirmatively endorsing a candidate who has no record ofanyaffinity for their governing program, their values and their ideology," Noah Rothman, a senior writer at the conservative website National Review and a frequent critic of Trump, told CBC News in a phone interview.

Still,while they may oppose many of her policies,those who have said they will vote for Harrissee Trump, who continues to deny the 2020 election results, as a potential existential threat to democracy.

That's whysome anti-Trump Republicans and former Republican staffersappeared on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to publicly announce their support for Harris.

Meanwhile,more than 200 staffersfor four previous Republican presidential nominees have endorsed Harris, concerned that anotherTrump presidency would representanother four years of"chaotic leadership,"jeopardize democratic movementsabroad and hurt "real everyday people."

Although the Republicans and conservatives supporting Harris have not been as well known to the general public,that changed last week when former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheneyannouncedat Duke University that she would be voting for Harris.

Cheney, who co-chairedthe House investigationinto theJan. 6, 2021, attack, and has been a vocal critic of Trump, said those conservatives and Republicans who oppose Trumpdon't have "the luxury of writing in candidates' names, particularly in swing states."

WATCH | After 2022 loss, Liz Cheney vows to continue fight against Trump:

Liz Cheney vows to fight on against Donald Trump

2 years ago

Duration 0:48

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Donald Trump's harshest Republican critic, conceded her loss Tuesday in a race to continue representing Wyoming in Congress, but says she'll do 'whatever it takes' to make sure Trump is never again U.S. president.

Trump poses a 'danger': Liz Cheney

"As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the constitution, I have thought deeply about this,"said Cheney."Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris."

Days later, her father, former vice-president Dick Cheney, also announced his support for Harris, citing Trump's attempt to steal the election in 2020 through"lies and violence to keep himself in power."

"In our nation's 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," he said in a statement."As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our constitution."

Meanwhile, on Thursday,Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney generalin the George W. Bush administration, also announced his support for Harris, saying he couldn't "sit quietly as Donald Trump perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation eyes a return to the White House."

The reaction to such endorsementsfrom Trump supporters, and Trump himself,has been mostly dismissive. Trump blastedDick Cheney as being "irrelevant,"and characterized both Cheneys as "RINOs" Republicans in Name Only.

Beforethese higher profile endorsements of Harris, David French, a conservativeNew York Times columnist and frequentTrump critic,stirredthe potamong some anti-Trump Republicanswhen he wrote in August that he'd bevoting for Harristo help save conservatism from itself.

French, who had declined to vote for either candidatein2016 and 2020, felt that support for Ukraine in its war with Russia is ageo-political necessity, and on that issue, Harris is on the right track.

"If Trumpwins again, it will validate his cruelty and his ideological transformation of the Republican Party. If Harris wins, the West will still stand against Vladimir Putin," French wrote.

Jonah Goldberg, co-founderof The Dispatch, a conservative news,opinion and analysis website, wrotethat while he agreed with French's criticisms of Trump, he was wrong about voting for and endorsing Harris and about "writing a column pegged to his vote rather than his endorsement."

Goldberg, who noted that he would never vote for Trump, nevertheless said writing in the names of Republicans you might admire, or evenleaving the presidential line blank would "send a better andclearer message."

Harris presidency 'lesser of two evils'

Instead, Goldberg said French, a colleague and friend, should havesaid: "I think Harris is pretty terrible for a slew of reasons, but a Harris presidency would be the lesser of two evils for the following reasons."

In another column, Goldberg wrote that Cheney's endorsement of Harris was problematic. He saidshe should be doing moreto combat the charge that sheand other anti-Trump conservatives are "just born-again left-wingers"

LISTEN | Republican Joe Walsh on why Donald Trump 'owns' the Republican Party:

As It Happens6:37Trump owns this political party, says Republican who once went up against him

The race to pick the 2024 U.S. Republican presidential nominee kicked off in Iowa on Monday with a landslide win for Donald Trump. Even though it's only the first state to vote, Republican Joe Walsh says Trumps victory is a done deal. Walsh, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the nomination in 2020, spoke to As It Happens host Nil Kksal.

"Why don't they criticize Harris' progressive politics while saying they're going to vote for her anyway because supporting Trump isn't an option," he wrote.

Stephen F. Hayes, The Dispatch's co-founder,echoed Goldberg's thoughts on X, formerly known as Twitter, when he wrote that he was concerned that someconservatives were "fluffing" Harris, who he sees as "a far-left senatornow trying to run away from her rhetoric and record."

"Trump is a dangerous demagogue, uniquely unfit to serve another term as president," Hayes said, adding, "opposing Trump doesn't require pretending Harris is something she's not."

That prompted an angry response from Sarah Longwell, founder of Republican Voters Against Trump, and publisher of the conservative anti-Trump website The Bulwark.

She wrote on X that Goldberg and Hayes'"tedious rationalizations" for standing on the sidelines instead of "taking a stand against the worst threat to American ideals in our lifetimes" was "deeply disappointing."

"I'll never understand it as long as I live. This is basic right and wrong stuff."

Rothmanof the National Review told CBC Newsthat byendorsing Harris, Republicans are sacrificing anyinfluence theymay still haveover the Republican Party.

He said that if they're seeking to restore the values of the Republican Party of old, "they're taking themselves off chessboard right now."