Former Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett

Former Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett was among three Republican former senators and 24 Republican former representatives who announced their support for Joe Biden for president.

Bartlett was the 55th mayor of Dallas and served from 1991-95. He served as a member of the House of Representatives from a north Dallas district from 1983-1991 and was replaced by Rep. Sam Johnson.

During his term in office as mayor, the first pro-LGBTQ ordinance came before the Dallas City Council. The LGBTQ community thought they had the votes supporting non-discrimination in city employment to pass with a 8-7 majority. Instead, before Bartlett voted in favor of the ordinance, he said, “We don’t discriminate in my business. We shouldn’t discriminate in the city,” surprising everyone around the horseshoe as well as people in the council chamber on both sides of the issue.

The Republicans supporting Biden issued a statement that Trump’s failure in office superseded partisanship.

The endorsements from Republican former members of Congress are:

Senate

• Jeff Flake, Arizona
• Gordon Humphrey, New Hampshire
• John Warner,Virginia

House of Representatives

• Steve Bartlett of Texas
• Bill Clinger, Pennsylvania
• Tom Coleman, Missouri
• Charlie Dent, Pennsylvania
• Charles Djou, Hawaii
• Mickey Edwards, Oklahoma
• Wayne Gilchrest, Maryland
• Jim Greenwood, Pennsylvania
• Bob Inglis, South Carolina
• Jim Kolbe, Arizona
• Steve Kuykendall, California
• Ray LaHood, Illinois
• Jim Leach, Iowa
• Susan Molinari, New York
• Connie Morella, Maryland
• Mike Parker, Mississippi
• Jack Quinn, New York
• Claudine Schneider, Rhode Island
• Christopher Shays, Connecticut
• Peter Smith, Vermont
• Alan Steelman, Texas
• Jim Walsh, New York
• Bill Whitehurst, Virginia
• Dick Zimmer, New Jersey

— David Taffet