A North Carolina Democrat state Rep announced last week that she is switching her party affiliation to Republican, handing the state GOP a veto-proof majority in the North Carolina House, ABC News reported.
Charlotte-area state Rep. Tricia Cotham said in a press conference at the state’s Republican headquarters last Wednesday that she will continue to do what she believes is right, adding that she is “still the same person.”
Cotham told reporters that the Republican Party “best represents me and my principles” as well as what is best for the state.
By switching parties, Cotham delivered Republicans the 72 seats needed in the 120-seat state House for a veto-proof majority. Republicans already held a veto-proof majority of 30 seats in the North Carolina state Senate.
North Carolina Democrats responded to Cotham’s news by demanding she resign. Democrats argued that the voters in her liberal district elected her expecting her to support the Democrat agenda.
In a competing press conference last Wednesday, North Carolina Democrat Party chair Anderson Clayton described Cotham’s decision as “a deceit of the highest order” and a “betrayal” of the people in Mecklenburg County who elected her.
During her press conference, Cotham explained that she is leaving the Democrat Party because the party and her Democrat colleagues in the state House are no longer willing to accept members with different viewpoints.
Saying that the Democrat Party of today is “unrecognizable to me,” Cotham said the Democrats “try to bully you” and “cast you aside” if you do not do “exactly” they want.
According to Cotham, she finally decided to leave the party after she was criticized for using the Praying Hands and American flag emojis on social media and on her vehicles.
She said it was always clear to her that the Democrat Party “was about control,” adding the Democrats “picked the wrong chick” to try to control.
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