Sen. Jeff Flake Might Write-In Evan McMullin for President

Sen. Jeff Flake (AP)

By    |   Wednesday, 02 November 2016 10:02 PM EDT ET

Count Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake among Republican lawmakers who won't be voting for Donald Trump on Election Day.

Flake on Wednesday told ABC News that he would possibly write in independent candidate Evan McMullin for president on his ballot. Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Colin Powell, John McCain and John Kasich are just a handful of Republicans who have said publicly they would not vote for Trump. Arizona voters are allowed to write McMullin in on their ballot.

"That's a possibility," Flake told ABC News's Jon Karl and Rick Klein on their podcast "Powerhouse Politics" when asked about voting for McMullin, formerly the chief policy director for the House Republican Conference in the House.

"I still have a week. I won't be voting for Donald Trump, though, that's for sure. And I won't be voting for Hillary Clinton, either."

Flake said he has "never climbed aboard" the Trump train and that the Republican nominee is "unlikely" to win the election on Nov. 8 despite polls showing the race as tightening up.

"I'm not sure in the end it will be as close as we're thinking today," said Flake. "The country is increasingly polarized and we've seen that as elections have gone on. It's unlikely we'll see landslides like we used to see."

He added: "I think any of the candidates on the Republican side would be far, far ahead. It's just difficult for Trump given the positions he's taken and the behaviors he's exhibited."

A CNN/ORC poll published Wednesday has Trump ahead by five points while an Emerson poll has him ahead by four.

Flake also said Wednesday that he thinks Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland should get a confirmation hearing in the lame duck session.

"Hillary Clinton will not likely nominate somebody as conservative as Garland. I'm not suggesting he's that conservative, he's just more conservative than somebody she would name, particularly if she has a Democrat Senate," he said.

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Politics
Count Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake among Republican lawmakers who won't be voting for Donald Trump on Election Day.
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Wednesday, 02 November 2016 10:02 PM
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