Former Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz of Michigan says he will support Vice President Kamala for president this fall, Spectrum News has learned, as the Democratic nominee continues her outreach to potentially persuadable GOP voters who may be disenchanted with former President Donald Trump.

Schwarz, who represented the battleground state in Congress for a single term from 2005 to 2007, previously served in the Michigan State Senate for 15 years and was the mayor of Battle Creek. Schwarz, who served in the U.S. Navy, is currently a lecturer at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, his alma mater. 

“This November, Michiganders have a choice between a person who incited one of the worst attacks on American democracy in our history or someone who believes in the Constitution and is fighting to create jobs, lower health care costs and protect our fundamental freedoms,” Schwarz said in a statement shared with Spectrum News.

"Now more than ever, we need a principled leader who unites us — not someone who is divisive and who threatens to end democracy," Schwarz added. "I am proud to help be a part of Republicans for Harris to bring patriotic and sensible Americans together to reject Donald Trump and what he stands for."

Schwarz ran for governor of Michigan in 2002 but lost the Republican primary to then-Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, who would go on to lose to Democratic Jennifer Granholm, the first female governor of the state and later President Joe Biden's Energy Secretary. Long seen as a moderate Republican, Schwarz bucked his party on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.

The former congressman is just the most recent Republican to endorse Harris, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, former Senator Jeff Flake, former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and former Trump administration officials Stephanie Grisham and Olivia Troye among others. 

“I tell you, I have never voted for a Democrat, but this year, I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” Cheney said at an endorsement event earlier this month in Ripon, Wisconsin. “Donald Trump was willing to sacrifice our Capitol, to allow law enforcement officers to be beaten and brutalized in his name, and to violate the law and the Constitution in order to seize power for himself.”

“I don’t care if you are a Democrat or Republican or an independent, that is depravity and we must never become numb to it," she added.

The campaign has also been touting more than 250 former GOP staffers who worked for Reagan, Romney, McCain and Bush, and more than 110 Republican former national security officials.

Since she became the Democratic Party's standard bearer, the Harris campaign has been spreading a message of a big tent party, launching Republicans for Harris in August to try to reach more conservative voters who are looking for an alternative to Donald Trump. That same month, the campaign hired a full-time national Republican outreach director in Austin Weatherford – Kinzinger's former chief of staff – to try to reach moderate and independent voters, which the campaign sees as an important part of its strategy.

“The Vice President is bringing together voters from across the political spectrum by running a campaign about freedom, democracy, and opportunity. Our Republicans for Harris program is taking that unifying, inspiring message to anti-Trump Republicans, moderates, and independents,” said Weatherford in a statement to Spectrum News.

“We know that these are votes we need to earn, and we’re continuing to put in the work everyday to win over the millions of Republicans who are ready to turn the page on the chaos, extremism, and division of Donald Trump.”

A Harris campaign official says more than seven-figures have been spent by the campaign to communicate directly with these critical swing voters, including an ad dropped last week in the battleground state of Pennsylvania featuring a farmer who supported Trump in the last two elections, but is throwing his support behind Harris this year.

The push to woo moderate Republicans dates back to when President Joe Biden was still the Democratic nominee, including a $30 million spring ad campaign trying to appeal to supporters of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley following her decision to drop out of the race for the Republican nomination. While Haley won just two primary contests against Trump – Washington, D.C., and Vermont – she continued winning a sizable portion of votes in primary contests even after dropping out of the race, signaling an opportunity for Democrats to try to lure some of her voters into their camp.

Harris has also committed that if she is elected in November, she will appoint a Republican to serve in her cabinet, a comment she has repeated as recently as earlier this week during an appearance on ABC’s "The View." During a campaign stop aimed at reaching Republicans in Scottsdale, Ariz., late last week, Harris doubled down on this promise, adding that she would create a bipartisan council of policy advisers if elected.

Harris is set to return to the battleground state of Michigan Tuesday for a live interview with radio personality Charlamagne Tha God.