EXCLUSIVE: Republican State Sen. Rob Cowles: ‘I plan on voting for Harris’

Nearing the end of a 42-year career serving in the Wisconsin State Legislature, Cowles said “this is one of the most important things I’ve done.” 

State Sen. Robert Cowles, a Republican from Green Bay, says he is voting for Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election.

“I plan on voting for Harris,” he said. 

Cowles said he has been concerned about blowback and potential threats about coming forward with his views on the presidential election, but said he is joining several other Republicans in backing Vice President Harris over former president Donald Trump..

“I really think this is one of the most important things I’ve done,” said Cowles. “Hopefully, people will accept that and listen to me, those that have trusted me and believed in me will think about that, and if they’re undecided, that we have to make a change here.” 

He added, “Trump has to be defeated, and we have to protect the Constitution. And the country will go on, even with some liberal things that Harris might do, or might not do…You have to have the foundation of the Constitution, to protect democracy. If you don’t have that, we will disappear.”

Cowles made this announcement in an episode of the Civic Media show, “Rational Revolution,” hosted by Mark Becker. Becker is the former chair of the Brown County GOP and is now part of Wisconsin Republicans for Harris-Walz.

The full broadcast of this episode airs on Saturday at 2 p.m. Becker and Cowles discuss this decision for the majority of the one-hour show. The full podcast episode is available online now. Listen here.

Cowles is currently Wisconsin’s longest-serving state senator. He was first elected to the State Senate in 1987, and was first elected to the State Assembly in 1982. He is retiring at the end of his current four-year term representing District 2, which includes much of the city of Green Bay, and parts of Brown, Outagamie, and Shawano counties. He has served in the Wisconsin State Legislature for 42 years.

In his conversation with Becker, Cowles talked about what led him to go public with this decision, discussing the importance of the Constitution and protecting democracy, mentioning the members of his family who served in the military and fought in World War II. 

“I believe this guy Trump is a totalitarian and very much a fascist,” said Cowles. “You know, the old adage, past is prologue, he’s indicated that in his words in deeds, especially in trying to overturn a free and fair election.”

Cowles said it was important for him to come forward now to “protect the Constitution and really our way of life going forward.”

“The big picture that really came to me in recent days, in the last week, is thinking about thinking about fascism in World War II, and members of my own family that fought the fascists both in Japan and Germany, and all the guys that are buried all over the place of this country, in Arlington,” he said. “And then you’ve got Trump saying nice things about Hitler? And sucking up to Putin? No. He is clearly our enemy, Putin – a living enemy. And we have to show the courage that the people in the World War II era had.” 

During the show, Becker played a clip from Liz Cheney’s recent speech in Ripon, Wisconsin, endorsing Harris, and Cowles talked about agreeing with all of what she had to say.

“I look back at all the people that I supported for president. I voted for a Republican for president every time…I’m not doing it this time,” said Cowles.

Cowles emphasized that while he is supporting Harris in the presidential election, he is planning on voting for Republicans in other races.

“I want to say that I’ve been concerned about the blowback, and I want to separate my decision on the president from all the other so-called down ballot people,” he said. “All of those people should be judged on their various merits.”

During the conversation, Cowles talked about being the co-chair of the Legislative Audit Committee in 2020, when the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau found that the 2020 election in Wisconsin was “safe and secure.”

“You’ve got the former president continuing to say that the election was stolen every time he’s here in Wisconsin,” said Cowles. “Didn’t happen. There were some issues, but clerks have been put through a tremendous amount of stress…So, that’s a check against him.” 

He added, “The peaceful transfer of power is part of the foundation of our country. If you don’t have that, all our freedoms that are a part of the Constitution will eventually disappear.”

Cowles, 74, announced in April that he would not be seeking re-election for a tenth term in the Senate.

Cowles is currently the Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, and the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Local Government. When announcing his decision to not seek re-election, he was commended by Clean Wisconsin, with Keith Reopelle, the former director of the organization, saying, “You would be hard pressed to find any major clean energy laws in Wisconsin that were not authored by Senator Cowles.” Cowles graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 1975. He is listed as a member of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Green Bay, Friends of Whitefish Dunes State Park, Green Bay/Brown County Professional Football Stadium District Board, National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, Salvation Army Volunteer, and Trout Unlimited.

“Rob Cowles has been a dear friend for many years, and I’m profoundly grateful for his courage,” said Becker. “It was an honor to turn the microphone over to Sen. Cowles to allow him to speak to his convictions before this pivotal moment in our nation’s history. Many thanks also to Civic Media for giving the space for this crucial dialogue to exist.”

Listen to the full conversation on “Rational Revolution,” this Saturday Oct. 26 at 2 p.m., or check out the “Rational Revolution” podcast wherever you stream podcasts.

To learn more about this show and all of the programming across the Civic Media network, head over to https://civicmedia.us/shows to see the entire broadcast line up. Follow the network on Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram to keep up with Civic Media.