NC lawmaker Tricia Cotham swaps parties, handing GOP a veto-proof supermajority

A North Carolina Democratic state representative announced on Wednesday that she would switch political parties and become a Republican, a move that hands the GOP a veto-proof supermajority in the state House in the middle of the legislative session.

State Rep. Tricia Cotham, who represents a Democratic-leaning district in the Charlotte area, formally announced her decision at a morning press conference, saying that it was born out of frustration and disagreements with the modern state Democratic Party. 

“The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions and wants to get to work to better our state,” Cotham said. “Not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after a workshop, but really work with individuals to get things done.

“What happened to the concept of a big tent party?” she later added. “What happened to these ideas that we’re inclusive, we’re tolerant, we’re so welcoming to everybody. No, you’re not.” 

Cotham’s decision has massive implications for politics in the state. Republicans came out of the 2022 election cycle winning a supermajority in the state Senate outright, but falling one seat short of a supermajority in the state House. 

Cotham’s party switch virtually ensures that Democratic state lawmakers won’t be able to uphold Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) vetoes, so long as all members are voting.

While she said that she would not “be pigeonholed” by the party switch, the dual Republican supermajorities could significantly ease GOP lawmakers’ efforts to pass more conservative priorities, like new abortion restrictions, without facing the threat of Cooper’s veto.

Cotham’s party switch was also surprising because of her roots in the Democratic Party. She has spent a collective decade in the North Carolina state House and represents a Democratic-leaning district in the state’s largest metro area. She also comes from a family with a history in Democratic politics. 

Her mother, Pat Cotham, serves on the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners and is a Democratic National Committee (DNC) member, while her father, John, served as chair of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party. 

Michael Whatley, the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, welcomed Cotham into the GOP on Wednesday, saying that it was proof that Democrats had moved too far to the left.

“We are thrilled to have Rep. Cotham join the Republican Party to advance solutions for North Carolina families,” Whatley said in a statement. “This announcement continues to reflect that the Democratic Party is too radical for North Carolina. The values of the Republican Party align with voters, and the People of Mecklenburg County should be proud to have her representation in Raleigh.”

Cotham’s party switch was first reported by Axios on Tuesday before it was formally announced.

The North Carolina Democratic Party reacted furiously to the decision, calling it a “deceit of the highest order” and demanding that she resign from her seat.

“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,” North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton and Mecklenburg County Democratic Party Chair Jane Whitley said in a joint statement. “If she can no longer represent the values her constituents trusted her to champion, she should resign immediately.”