Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) still hasn’t publicly endorsed Republican Donald Trump for president, and state party officials aren’t too happy about it. Katko is running for reelection in a congressional district that has changed parties for the last five election cycles, and has expressed concern over Trump’s tone and divisive rhetoric, saying Trump will have to earn his vote. New York State Republican Party Chair Ed Cox says he understands Katko’s reluctance.
“Circumstances are different in Onondaga [County] than they are in a national election this and that. And that’s basically a discussion of policy issues, things like that. But the bottom line is, you’re a Republican, you endorse a Republican candidate.”
Cox says he believes Katko will eventually endorse Trump.
“I can understand on a local level, when you are representing your districts, you have differences, but the congressional candidates, should come out, and I think they will, endorse Donald Trump.”
Katko’s opponent in November, Democrat Colleen Deacon, has been calling on Katko to say publicly whether he supports Trump or not.
Speaking after an event in Syracuse Monday, Katko told WRVO News that his position hasn’t changed.
“I’ve talked about that a lot of times and I’ve made my position pretty clear and it’s not going to change unless I see some change from the candidate,” said Katko.
Katko isn’t the only upstate Republican to waiver on their support for Trump. Last week, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-Barneveld) became the first Republican member of Congress to say that he would support Democrat Hillary Clinton and not Trump.
