Rep. Tricia Cotham's decision to switch her party affiliation and its implications for women's freedoms, LGBTQ+ rights, our public schools, and the future of North Carolinians. North Carolina Rep. Tricia Cotham, who won election to a deep-blue Charlotte-area seat as a Democrat just five months ago, changed parties Tuesday — an extraordinary move that gives Republicans more power to override gubernatorial vetoes in the state House and push their agenda through the legislative process.
The move further reduces Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s power to shape state law during his final year-plus in office. Cooper has spent the past four years able to veto controversial GOP-backed bills; Republicans lost their veto-proof majority in the 2018 “Blue Wave” elections. But the 2022 midterms went in the GOP’s favor, giving Republicans a supermajority in the Senate and leaving them just one seat short in the House — a seat Cotham now appears to be handing to the GOP. Cotham’s move could give the GOP the votes it needs to pass controversial proposals, including one of the session's biggest question marks: new abortion restrictions. Even as a Democrat, Cotham has already voted with Republicans on some other hot-button issues. But she was also outspoken on the campaign trail about supporting abortion rights, leading to questions Tuesday over what her move will mean for abortion in particular.
Before a House session late Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers and legislative staffers cleaned out Cotham's desk, then moved her seat from the Democratic side of the chamber to the Republican side. Cotham then walked in with an entourage of Republicans including Rep. John Bell, the House Majority Leader. Later in the day, her Twitter account liked a tweet welcoming her to the GOP.
It's the biggest political bombshell at the state legislature in recent years. Others have switched parties, but not since a bribery scandal 20 years ago — which briefly resulted in an evenly tied House of Representatives, and eventually led to a top Democrat being sent to prison — has any state legislator affected the balance of power by switching sides in the middle of a legislative session.
Cotham didn’t respond to requests for comment by text or email. Asked multiple times in person, she initially remained silent but finally told WRAL News: “Press conference tomorrow” and walked away, escorted by Republican House Speaker Tim Moore’s bodyguard.
She is scheduled to attend a press conference at the headquarters of the state Republican Party on Wednesday.
While it was clear Tuesday that Cotham had aligned herself with the GOP, details of exactly how she plans to do so were not clear. She could officially switch her party affiliation to Republican. She could also technically remain a Democrat on paper, or switch to being an unaffiliated voter, but sit and vote with Republicans in the legislature. Regardless, Democrats made clear that she was no longer one of them.
Cooper called Cotham’s decision “disappointing,” suggesting it could be consequential. “Rep. Cotham’s votes on women’s reproductive freedom, election laws, LGBTQ rights and strong public schools will determine the direction of the state we love,” Cooper said in a statement. “It’s hard to believe she would abandon these long held principles and she should still vote the way she has always said she would vote when these issues arise, regardless of party affiliation.”
Other Democrats called on Cotham to resign. Anderson Clayton, chair of the state Democratic Party, released a joint statement with Mecklenburg County party chair calling Cotham’s move a betrayal to her district and “deceit of the highest order.”
House Minority Leader Robert Reives said the person joining the GOP “is not the person those constituents campaigned for in a hard primary, and who they championed in a general election in a 60% Democratic district.”
“Those constituents deserved to know what values were most important to their elected representative,” Reives continued. “Because of that, the appropriate action is for her to resign so that her constituents are fairly represented in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
One progressive group called her "Turncoat Tricia."
Republicans, meanwhile, basked in the rumors that shot through the statehouse.
Full story: https://www.wral.com/story/democrat-s...
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