WAUKESHA — Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly announced he is leaving the Republican Party after hundreds of rioters stormed the U.S Capitol building as legislators began to certify President-elect Joe Biden's presidential victory.
"I am ashamed that I was a member of the Republican Party," Mayor Reilly stated in a Facebook post.
He is just one of many lawmakers to decry the act of treason against the U.S Capitol.
Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, responded to the Mayor's comments by saying, “I know mayor Reilly really well and respect him, I think the actions that we saw at the Capitol yesterday were appalling. I think the comments that the President made that cause it to kind of occur is not what an elected official should be doing, especially the President. I can’t believe anyone would take the words he said and attack the Capitol, it’s terrible,” said Farrow.
Farrow said he does not plan to leave the Republican Party like Mayor Reilly, and the individuals who participated in riots at the Capitol, do not reflect what the party stands for.
"When you look at a party as big as the Democrat or Republican Party there are differences of opinions, there are some that are very far on different sides, there are some more moderate and there are some as I like to put it, the common sense individuals; people realize we can stand by our values and work with our values but we still have to work together with others that may have different values and figure out how to do that," said Farrow.
Farrow believes there is a discourse on both sides and he said it’s time for elected officials to work together to move the nation forward.
“Working together is what we need to do. Compromise isn’t a bad thing, compromise is a way we continue to move forward that’s what we need to look at,” said Farrow.