by Rep. Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County has indicated she will be switching from the Democrats to the Republicans. Speaker Tim Moore, Rep. Cotham, and other GOP leaders will be holding a press conference Wednesday morning to announce the switch.
You may remember she was vilified by Carolina Forward and other leftists for her excused absence on the day the veto override for SB 41 was held. Reportedly, she suffers from long COVID having had it three times and was scheduled to have treatment that day. She had notified by the Speaker and the Minority Leader of her planned absence.
I think the cartoon below shows why she might be making the switch.
Rep. Cecil Brockman (D-Guilford) who was also absent that day suggested how she was treated over the veto may have something to do with it.
From Axios:
Rep. Cecil Brockman, who is also a moderate Democrat, told the News & Observer he doesn’t blame Cotham and said he thought the reaction from Democrats drove her to switch parties.
“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,” Brockman said.
As might be expected, Democrats are calling for her to resign. The Charlotte Observer in a snarky editorial is calling it a betrayal of the voters. While I don’t have any confirmation of it, I have even heard she has received death threats which given how the Left operates would not surprise me.
I think if Rep. Brockman decided he had enough of the ill-treatment he would also be welcomed by the GOP. However, I think he would be trashed even worse than Rep. Cotham given he is an African-American. That is really sad.
UPDATE: This is a meme that Sean Sorrentino posted on Twitter. He is right – the Democrats in NC have gone hard left. It was why I left many years before Rep. Cotham.
