Democratic state lawmakers in North Carolina are now fearing a large GOP legislative agenda push after state Rep. Tricia Cotham’s party switch to Republican, giving them a veto-proof majority in the state House and a supermajority in the Senate.
“Rep. Cotham’s decision is a betrayal to the people of HD-112 with repercussions not only for the people of her district, but for the entire state of North Carolina,” NBC news reported North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton and Mecklenburg County Democratic Party Chair Jane Whitley saying in a joint statement. “If she can no longer represent the values her constituents trusted her to champion, she should resign immediately.”
Cotham, who was elected as a Democrat in November 2022, announced this week that she was switching parties, and would now be a Republican, giving the GOP a veto-proof majority in the North Carolina Legislature.
"I have decided to change my party affiliation, joining the Republican Party, and have been welcomed with open arms," NBC reported that Cotham said. "The modern-day Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to me. 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 a workshop.
"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.”
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said that her votes will now determine the path of the state on several controversial issues.
"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,” NBC reported Cooper saying 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."
As a result of the defection, the GOP-led state Senate is introducing five bills to ban “gender affirming” medical procedures for transgender youth and preventing them from competing in middle and high school sports against students with a biologically different sex, according to The Associated Press.
“This bill is not against anybody, but it is for all women,” Sen. Vickie Sawyer, an Iredell County Republican and primary sponsor told the AP.
Opponents said the proposed legislation will only serve to further marginalize LGBTQ+ groups.
“This is another one of those bills that doesn’t address the real issues and further marginalizes a population that already has higher suicidal ideation rates, higher familial rejection, that already has so many barriers just to survive and thrive inside of schools,” Kendra Johnson, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Equality North Carolina said in the AP’s report. “It feels like bullying from the Legislature.”
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