Another Republican Abandons the GOP: Ex-Nevada Lt. Gov Sue Wagner Cites Party Extremism
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/another-republican-abandons-gop-ex-nevada-lt-gov-sue-wagner-cites-party
Call it Right Flight: In what is starting to look like a trend, the Republican Party has pushed yet another member to the breaking point by pulling so hard to the right. According to Talking Points Memo, Former Nevada Lt. Governor Sue Wagner announced earlier this week that she has left the Republican Party, citing irreconcilable changes to the partys mission statement and general ethos.
Its grown so conservative and tea-party oriented, and I just cant buy into that, Wagner told the Reno Gazette Journal. Ive left the Republican Party, and its left me at the same time.
Wagner served as the first female lieutenant governor in Nevada state history from 1991-1995, and became an early agent for party change when she publically supported abortion rights during her tenure. In 2010, Wagners found herself at odds with the party when she refused to endorse Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angles due to her extreme views on abortion. Now, Wagner says, the party has taken a turn that has all but made her moderate ideology obsolete.
I did it as a symbol, I guess, that I do not like the Republican Party and what they stand for today, Wagner said. Ive been a Republican all my life. My dad was active [in the GOP] in the state of Maine where I was born. It was more of a moderate, liberal Republican Party.