North Carolina Democrat Tricia Cotham Says She Switched Parties, Giving Republicans a Veto-Proof Supermajority, Because Some Dems Were Mean to Her

In 2023, the United States is a pretty scary place thanks to efforts by Republicans to ban abortion, ban teachers from acknowledging that LGBTQ+ people exist, ban gender-affirming care, ban schools and businesses from teaching classes or offering training courses that could make white people feel bad, ban the use of preferred pronouns, ban people from protesting in favor of the right to not be killed in a mass shooting, ban drag shows, ban trans athletes from sports, and generally ban anyone from living their life in a manner that Republicans disagree with. The antidote, of course, is to vote out politicians at the local, state, and federal levels who think the aforementioned efforts are great, and then replace them with ones who understand just how messed up they are. One thing that definitely won’t help? Democratic lawmakers defecting to the dark side because someone was mean to them.

On Wednesday, North Carolina state representative Tricia Cotham announced at a press conference that she was becoming a Republican because the Democratic Party had changed since she was first appointed to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2007, and because some Democrats weren’t nice to her. “The modern-day Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to me and to so many others throughout this state and this country,” Cotham said in a short speech. “The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions, who wants to get to work to better our state, not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after workshop, but really work with individuals to get things done, because that’s what real public servants do. If you don’t do exactly what the Democrats want you to do, they will try to bully you, they will try to cast you aside.” According to The New York Times, Cotham claimed that “women in the House caucus” had “started vicious rumors” about her and that a woman criticized her and her 12-year-old son while they were shopping at Target.

Obviously, it’s beyond the pale and unacceptable for people to go after lawmakers’ minor children. But perhaps there’s a good reason Democrats have recently expressed frustration toward Cotham herself.

Per the Times:

In recent days, there had been signs of a fissure between Ms. Cotham and Democrats. Her absence during a floor vote last week allowed Republicans to override [Democratic governor Roy] Cooper’s veto of a bill removing a permit requirement for handguns. It was the first Republican override of Mr. Cooper’s veto since 2018.

Said Democrats might also be upset given what’s at stake and what Cotham’s party-switching could mean for the people of North Carolina in the future:

A reliable Democratic vote when she served in the House from 2007 to 2017, she once stood on the House floor and shared her experience of having an abortion, calling it “a deeply personal decision” and accusing Republican lawmakers of “wanting to play doctor.” Ms. Cotham, 44, whose district sits outside Charlotte, ran again successfully for the chamber in November on a platform of raising the minimum wage, protecting voting rights, and bolstering LGBTQ rights.

Now, however, her decision helps Republicans cement razor-thin but complete control over a second chamber of the legislature, giving them the ability to bypass…Cooper, a Democrat, and create a glide path for their legislative agenda. Republican leaders have indicated a desire to seek new restrictions on abortion and tighten the state’s voting laws, among other issues. In the House, Republicans will have the 72 votes they need to override Mr. Cooper’s vetoes; they already have a veto-proof majority in the Senate. Though Republicans have long controlled the legislature, they lost their supermajorities in both chambers in 2018, leaving Mr. Cooper with the ability to block GOP bills. Since taking office in 2017, he has turned back more than 75 such measures.

In a statement issued Tuesday, when news of Cotham’s defection was first reported by Axios, Cooper said the lawmaker’s decision was “disappointing,” adding: “Representative 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. 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.” According to the Times, “as of Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Cotham had not spoken to Democratic colleagues about her plans, nor had she contacted State Representative Robert Reives, the party’s leader in the House, he said in an interview.” In a statement, Reives said: “The appropriate action is for her to resign so that her constituents are fairly represented in the North Carolina House of Representatives.”

It’s unclear at this time how Cotham will vote now that she’s switched sides, though she apparently did not care to reassure anyone that she would still do what she could to protect abortion rights. When asked how she might vote on upcoming GOP legislation restricting the medical procedure, she merely said, “I’m going to vote my conscience.”