Some prominent GOP leaders from San Diego are not attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Republican National Convention headed into its second day on Tuesday with Donald Trump cinching the nomination for president.
Many local Republican leaders, such as past presidential nominee Mitt Romney, made it clear that Trump is the reason why he’s staying away from the convention.
Ryan Clumpner, a political consultant in San Diego is deeply involved with the local Republican Party. He told NBC 7 that he didn’t have any interest in going to the convention this year.
Similar to Romney and Republican State Assemblymember Rocky Chavez, for Clumpner, the issue was also Trump.
“Until the party stands for something I can connect to and I can relate to again, it’s not something I want to be in the middle of,” he said.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer had also announced that he would not vote for or endorse Trump because of the Republican nominee’s controversial comments about Latinos and Mexico.
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But Trump is not the only reason by some leaders have opted out of making the trip to Cleveland. For Congressman Duncan Hunter, one of Trump’s supporters, the reason is family.
NBC 7 requested an interview with Hunter. His Chief of Staff Joe Kasper sent us the following statement:
“Representative Hunter was one of Trump's first supporters and remains active in support of the GOP nominee, but he's also a family man with a wife and three kids and he knows there are plenty of others who are eager to attend the convention. Family time is important and being gone for months at a time makes time at home and in the district with voters all the more valuable.”
