(Radio Iowa) – In an unusual twist, a former Republican congressional candidate from western Iowa is endorsing a Democrat in the November election. Kevin Virgil lost the June primary to incumbent Randy Feenstra in the 4th District. Now, Virgil says voters should consider splitting their tickets to support former President Donald Trump for the White House -and- Democrat Ryan Melton for Congress.

“I’d rather have somebody who’s intellectually honest about what they stand for,” Virgil says, “rather than somebody like Feenstra who doesn’t really meet with the public and then just votes the way his corporate donors tell him to.” Even though they disagree on issues like abortion and government spending, Virgil says he and Melton have the same viewpoint on fighting carbon capture pipelines, lowering high cancer rates, and improving rural Iowa.

Virgil says, “I think it’s time for people to start deprioritizing party loyalty and think about electing the leaders that actually want to solve the problems.” Melton says it’s unprecedented that Virgil would back him over Feenstra. He’s surprised, but Melton says he understands, based on what he says voters tell him on the campaign trail. “There’s a lot of anger right now among Republicans against their party leadership,” Melton says, “and that anger is justified because their party leadership continues to sell them out to their donors.”

Virgil, who moved to rural Sutherland in O’Brien County last year, says blind party loyalty has not helped Iowa in terms of education, poverty, mental health, and support for family farms. Feenstra released a statement calling Virgil an “East Coast liberal” who chooses to endorse a Democrat who will block Trump’s agenda.