This lawmaker in Iowa just left the Republican Party: 'I want no part of' Trump's GOP

A state legislator in Iowa has left the Republican Party and joined the Democrats, according to a new report in local paper The Gazette.

Rep. Andy McKean was the longest-serving Republican in Iowa's legislature, according to the report, but he's been feeling himself drifting away from the party for years and has already voted with the Democrats multiple times this session.

“I found myself increasingly uncomfortable with the stance of my party,” he said. “Quite frankly, in listening to the discussion on the critical issues of the day since I’ve been back in Des Moines, I’ve felt in great sympathy with the Democratic Party on most of those major issues."

He cited Trump's election in 2016 as a sign that the party was veering to the extreme right and steering away from his values, the Gazette reported:

“It is just a matter of time before our country 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,” McKean said. The president’s “crude and juvenile” insults and bullying set a bad example for children, he added.

“If this is the new normal, I want no part of it,” McKean said.

While the Democrats, who are in the minority in the legislature, are "thrilled" to have McKean join their ranks, the Republican Party of Iowa chairman sent off a shot across his bow.

“When he was running for office a mere five months ago, he made a commitment to the voters of District 58, running on the Republican platform," Chairman Jeff Kaufmann. "Today, he has violated the trust of the voters in his district."