North Carolina State House Rep. Tricia Cotham Switches to Republican Party, Gives Them Super Majority
The change gives the Republicans a vet-proof majority.
North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham officially switched to the Republican Party.
Cotham announced the switch with members of the North Carolina Republican Party at a press conference this morning:
Rep. @triciacotham makes it official. “Today I add Republican to that list”@SpecNews1RDU #ncpol #ncga pic.twitter.com/omylee8Ep7
— Mary Helen Jones (@MHJreports) April 5, 2023
The Republicans have super majorities in the House and the Senate, making both veto-proof.
Cotham’s reasons to leave the Democrat Party sound like the ones Tulsi Gabbard gave when she defected. It’s become too radical, the sexism, the attitudes, the controlling behavior, etc:
Cotham said the “modern-day democratic party has become unrecognizable to me and others across the state.”
She said she felt pressure from the party to vote with the caucus, declaring, “I will not be controlled by anyone.”
The representative said Democrats have been “blasting me on Twitter to calling me names, coming after my family, coming after my children. That is wrong.” She said that a woman cussed her out at a story while she was shopping with her son
The turning point for Cotham, she said, was when she says she received criticism for using the American flag and praying hands emoji on social media and on her vehicles.
Democrats want Cotham to resign:
House Minority Leader Robert Reives, acknowledging Cotham’s decision on Tuesday, called on her to resign.
Reives said Cotham had campaigned as a Democrat and someone who supported abortion rights, health care, public education, gun safety and civil rights, and that voters in her district “elected her to serve as that person and overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.”
“Now, just a few months later, Rep. Cotham is changing parties. That is not the person that was presented to the voters of House District 112. That 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,” Reives said in a statement. “Those constituents deserved to know what values were most important to their elected representative.”
However, it sounds like Cotham has always been a moderate Democrat. She has worked with Republicans on many issues and hasn’t changed her positions.
It’ll be interesting to watch if the Republicans stick to their words and not go after Cotham when and if she disagrees with them, especially on major issues.
Rep. Cecil Brockman, another moderate Democrat, isn’t shocked by Cotham’s move nor is he surprised, especially due to the Democrats’ reaction: “I think she just wanted to do what’s best for her district and when you’re constantly talked about and trashed — especially the way that we have been over the past few weeks — I think this is what happens.”
I wonder if Brockman will eventually leave the Democrats.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Don’t be surprised when you constantly berate someone when one day they flip you the bird right back.
Welcome.
Yet Wisconsin Republicans lost ALL their elections yesterday
ALL
Right wing abortion dogmatists. Half the Republicans stayed home.
The margin was significantly larger than usual got a statewide race. Abortion being outlawed under an 1800s statue was the the key driver, although they did a good job with all their dollars spent on election integrity too.
We have to recognize where there is overreach on an issue beyond what can be sustained in a state and take as much as we can that doesn’t cost us an election.
My 2 cents.
It’s a betrayal of voters in a lock-step party-voting era.
It’s wonderful when republicans are in the majority. They can talk up a big game on Fox News and then cave when it matters,
Here’s hoping that Rep. Cotham has full time protection for herself and her family.
I’m glad Cotham decided to rinse herself off and come over to the R side..
I’m just a poutine-eating surrender monkey from a Chinese puppet state, but I was pretty sure party affiliation didn’t actually matter to votes. It’s not like NC is a Westminster parliament.
It kinda does. Democrats go completely off their s* if a nominal Democrat fails to vote in absolute lockstep with her leadership — hence, all the abuse Cotham has been receiving. Republicans get annoyed (and sometimes even vocal) with R politicians who break ranks, but they don’t send you death threats.
For another example see Krysten Sinema.
Nobody’s been following her into the ladies room since she went Independent.
“Those constituents deserved to know what values were most important to their elected representative.”
This is hilarious.
When a politician changes her party affiliation and NONE of her principles, Democrats pounce.
When Wilson and FDR completely reversed themselves on their campaign promises (esp. on warmongering) without changing their parties whatsoever, Democrats snored.
What do Republicans plan to do with their supermajority? The history of the GOP over the last few decades is not encouraging.
As Mark Steyn once noted: When Republicans win elections they are in office. When Democrats win elections they are in power.