Former Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) will endorse Hillary Clinton for president on Wednesday.
{mosads}Warner, a former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former secretary of the Navy, will join several other Republicans who are backing the Democratic nominee over their party’s pick, Donald Trump.
Warner’s decision to endorse Clinton is intended to encourage those in Virginia and across the country that security-minded Republicans should cast their ballots for the Democratic nominee.
“The event will highlight how Hillary Clinton is by far the strongest and most experienced candidate on a full range of national security issues, and that she has the knowledge, steadiness and temperament to be Commander in Chief,” the campaign said in a release.
Warner has in the past backed Democrats over Republicans, but he has never endorsed a Democrat for president, according to The Washington Post.
“For 30 years, Virginians trusted John Warner in the Senate, and for good reason: He has dedicated his life to defending our country, from serving in the Navy in World War II to chairing the Senate Armed Services Committee, where I had the honor of working with him to support our men and women in uniform and their families,” Clinton wrote in a statement provided to The Washington Post.
“I am proud to have John’s support, and to know that someone with his decades of experience would trust me with the weighty responsibility of being Commander in Chief.”
Warner will announce his decision at an event Wednesday in Alexandria with Clinton’s running mate, Sen. Time Kaine (D-Va.).
In Virginia, Clinton has a 6-point lead over Trump, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls in the state.
In June, before Kaine was chosen as Clinton’s running mate, he talked highly of the former Republican lawmaker.
“I will be up for reelection in 2018, and I’m kind of taking John Warner as my role model,” Kaine said.
“He was in the Senate for 30 years and did a great job for Virginia and was courageous.”