RALEIGH, N.C. — Democratic State Rep. Tricia Cotham joined House and Senate GOP leaders at the North Carolina GOP headquarters Wednesday morning to announce that she is switching parties to become a member of the House Republican caucus.
News of Cotham’s decision provoked divergent reactions from each party, with Republicans celebrating the move and Democrats calling for her resignation and accusing her of betraying her constituents.
Several GOP leaders and high-ranking lawmakers attended Wednesday’s news conference to welcome Cotham to the party. House Speaker Tim Moore, who has worked with Cotham in the House since she was first appointed to fill a vacant seat in 2007, said he was “very proud” to join his “newest Republican colleague.”
“Even when I was in the minority, and Rep. Cotham was in the majority, she was always one of the most bipartisan members who would work with us a great deal,” Moore said.
Moore said that in conversations with Cotham over the last few weeks he got a sense she was unhappy and felt that she had to vote against her conscience more than once. Moore and other GOP leaders repeatedly stressed that they thought Cotham’s decision to switch parties showed that the Democratic Party had become intolerant of dissenting views and members who voted with the GOP.
“And by the way, she’s not the only Democrat we’ve had great conversations with,” Moore said, suggesting that he has spoken with other Democrats about potentially switching parties.
“We understand that having a big tent with ideas across the spectrum is what makes not just a party healthy, but it’s what makes governing effective, because North Carolina is that way,” Moore said.
Why Cotham says she decided to switch parties
GOP lawmakers and staffers applauded as Moore welcomed Cotham to the lectern.
“I am a single mom of two amazing sons; a teacher; a small business owner; a woman with strong faith; a national championship basketball coach; and a public servant,” Cotham said at the beginning of her speech.
“Today, I add Republican to that list,” she said, to loud cheers.
Cotham said there were many reasons for her decision to switch parties, and that she didn’t make the decision overnight, but that it was something she thought about over several months, particularly after the Legislature returned for its long session in January.
What she perceived as increasing hostility from her colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus alarmed her, Cotham said. And on social media she encountered “vicious” attacks over her votes and stances this session. Cotham, along with a handful of other more moderate House Democrats, has voted with Republicans on multiple bills this year.
“As long as I have been a Democrat, the Democrats have tried to be a big tent. But this now, where we are, the modern-day Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to me, and to so many others throughout the state and the country,” Cotham said. “The party wants to villainize 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 a workshop.”
Cotham’s party switch will have major ramifications for state politics. Republicans now have a supermajority in both chambers, which will make it next to impossible for Democrats to uphold Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes going forward. House Republicans now control 72 of the chamber’s 120 seats — the exact number needed to override vetoes when all members are voting.
Republicans came out of November’s election winning an outright supermajority in the Senate, but fell one seat short in the House, which is what makes Cotham’s decision so consequential.
GOP and Democrats react to Cotham’s move
Ahead of the news conference, the party released statements from Chairman Michael Whatley, and the state’s U.S senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, celebrating Cotham’s change.
Whatley said the party was thrilled to have Cotham join Republicans to “advance solutions for North Carolina families.”
“This announcement continues to reflect that the Democratic Party is too radical for North Carolina,” Whatley said. “The values of the Republican Party align with voters, and the people of Mecklenburg County should be proud to have her representation in Raleigh.”
Tillis, who formerly served as the state’s House speaker, said he and Cotham joined the chamber together in 2007.
“She is a no-nonsense legislator who works hard to make a positive difference for all North Carolinians,” Tillis said, adding that she’s a welcome addition to the caucus.
Budd said that Democrats’ “extreme agenda” is hurting North Carolina families causing its voters to leave.
“Far left Democrats will only fight for a radical, woke agenda — not for good, hardworking people,” Budd said. “Rep. Cotham’s historic announcement highlights that Republicans are the only party focused on the bottom line for taxpayers here at home.“
Tuesday, Cooper issued a statement on the Cotham news: “This is a disappointing decision. 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. 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.”
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.”
Cotham was joined Wednesday by several from North Carolina’s Republican leadership, including Moore, Senate leader Phil Berger and House majority leader John Bell. U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, a Charlotte Republican, also attended.
GOP secures supermajority to advance agenda
Republicans set their sights on a supermajority during last year’s election and vowed to win total legislative control. They planned to resurrect bills Cooper had vetoed in the past and pursue an agenda that Democrats wouldn’t be able to block. Among other things, that has included bills to increase penalties for rioting, to require sheriffs to cooperate with ICE, and most recently, to repeal the state’s permit law for buying handguns.
That last bill, Senate Bill 41, was a package of gun rights measures. The inclusion of the repeal of the pistol purchase permit law — which had been a priority for Republicans, and which was strongly opposed by Democrats — made the bill a key issue for both parties to battle over early in the session.
The bill passed both chambers, but was vetoed by Cooper. The governor’s decision was met by a promise from Republicans to hold “swift” override votes, and within three days the Legislature had successfully circumvented Cooper, completing its first veto override since 2018.
House Republicans’ success came down to absences from three Democrats: Cotham, who said she had a previously scheduled medical appointment related to her recovery from long COVID, as well as Reps. Michael Wray (whose office said he had a family emergency) and Cecil Brockman (whose office said he had been in urgent care during the vote).
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