Andy McKean Facts: Iowa Republican Turns Democrat, Calls Trump ‘Bully,’ ‘Poor Example’

An Iowa representative from the Republican Party announced his departure from the GOP on Tuesday, and said he was joining the Democratic Party due to his misgivings about President Donald Trump.

Rep. Andy McKean had served the Republican Party for 35 years, in both Iowa's Senate and House chambers, earning him the title of the longest-serving Republican in the state's legislature. He said he made his decision in the wake of Trump becoming a “poor example for the nation and particularly for our children.”

At a news conference, McKean made the following statement: “With the 2020 president election looming on the horizon, I feel as a Republican that I need to be able to support the standard bearer of our party. Unfortunately, that is not something I am able to do. He sets, in my opinion, a poor example… often in a crude and juvenile fashion -- those who disagree with him, being a bully at a time when we are attempting to discourage bullying, his frequent disregard for the truth and his willingness to ridicule or marginalize people for their appearance, ethnicity or disability.”

“I believe that it is just a matter of time before our party pays a heavy price for President Trump's reckless spending and shortsighted financial policies, his erratic, destabilizing foreign policy and his disregard for environmental concerns. If this is the new normal, I want no part of it." McKean added.

Here are a few facts about McKean:

1. According to the website of Iowa Legislature, he has a bachelor’s degree in science from State University College at Oneonta, New York, a degree in medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences from University of Rhode Island and ajuris doctor degree from University of Iowa.

2. McKean was serving his eighth nonconsecutive term in the House. He had also served three terms in the Senate.

3. During the 2017 legislative session, McKean served on Economic Growth and Judiciary Committee. He was also the vice chairman of the Environmental Protection Committee.

4. He won the general election for Iowa House of Representatives District 58 in 2018, against Democratic nominee Joe Oclon.

5. McKean’s political profile is no longer available on the official website for the Iowa House Republicans.

6. He is married, and has four children - three daughters and a son.

Jessica Post, executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee praised McKean for his bold decision. “Representative Andy McKean has shown courage time and again standing up for his constituents and rural communities,” she said “Today, he’s taking another courageous step by leaving Trump’s extreme Republican Party and joining Iowa Democrats to better represent the values and interests of eastern Iowa.”

“Representative McKean didn’t leave the Republican Party. The Republican Party left him -- and their loss is our gain. We’re going to have his back in 2020 — and with this seat in Democratic control the path to taking back the Iowa House is clear,” she added.