DES MOINES, Iowa - A senior member of the Iowa Senate says he has suspended his Republican Party membership to protest "racist remarks" made by the party's presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
The Des Moines Register reports Sen. David Johnson, of Ocheyedan, says Tuesday that he changed his voter registration from Republican to "no party."
The senator from northwest Iowa says he would "not stand silent" if the Republican Party "buckles under the racial bias of a bigot," referring to Trump. Johnson's criticism was prompted by Trump's comments that a judge ruling in a lawsuit involving Trump University was biased because of his Mexican heritage.
Johnson says Republican leaders have been too timid in condemning Trump.
He says he hasn't decided whether he will stop caucusing with Republicans in the Iowa Senate.
