Former GOP U.S. Senator from Arizona endorses Kamala Harris

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A former Republican senator from Arizona is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the race to the White House heats up with less than 40 days to Election Day.

The politician and former CBS News contributor announced his support for the vice president on Twitter early Saturday and discussed his endorsement in detail during an interview with a Phoenix newspaper.

Flake paints Harris and her VP pick Tim Walz as candidates who believe in the rule of law, respect the will of the voters, and base their leadership "not on grievances of the past, but hope for the future."

In his statement, the Republican hints at criticism of Trump's foreign policy. It's no secret that he is one of Trump's most prominent critics in the GOP. Flake's book, " Conscience of a Conservative ," was largely a critique of the former president.

"Having spent the past three years overseas as a U.S. Ambassador, I've seen up close that we have very real enemies abroad. We also have vital and indispensable allies," Flake said. "I want to support a Presidential candidate who understands and appreciates the difference."

He concludes: "After all, in times like these, there is nothing more conservative than putting country over party."

Flake is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With 450,000 members in Arizona, Harris has been working to win the support of these traditionally Republican voters .

She's going to need it. New polls suggest Trump is gaining momentum in swing states along the Sun Belt .

In Arizona, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll shows Trump leading Harris by about 6% in a survey of likely voters. A Fox News poll shows a smaller but still significant margin of about 3%.

It's a big swing from earlier polls showing Harris as having a sizable and distant lead when she replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee.

AP VoteCast data shows that in 2020, about 7-in-10 Mormon voters nationally supported Trump, while about one-quarter backed Democrat Joe Biden.

Flake retired from the Senate at the end of his term in 2019, saying he was out of step with the Republican Party in the era of Trump.

In 2020, Flake was one of over two dozen former GOP lawmakers who endorsed Biden under the group " Republicans for Biden ." The former senator most recently served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey, having been nominated by Biden and later confirmed by the Senate.