Many of us were disappointed at the mid-term elections in North Carolina. Governor Cooper has been very free with his veto pen, and things that needed to be done were routinely vetoed. It was hoped that the Republicans would achieve a veto-proof majority in the state legislature, but that didn’t happen. Well, never give up.
On Wednesday, American Greatness reported the following:
In North Carolina, a Democratic state lawmaker officially switched her party affiliation to Republican, thus giving the GOP a supermajority in the lower chamber of the state’s legislature.
According to RedState, State Representative Tricia Cotham (D-N.C.), who was first elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives last November from the newly-created District 112, is expected to formally announce her switch to the Republican Party on Wednesday. Her switch will give the GOP control of 72 seats in the 120-seat chamber, exactly 60 percent of all seats, thus putting the party over the threshold of a supermajority that they fell one seat short of in the 2022 elections. The party currently holds a similar 60 percent majority in the State Senate, with 30 out of 50 seats in the upper chamber.
As Axios further reports, Cotham’s switch would give the North Carolina GOP “a veto-proof majority in the middle of the legislative session and a clear runway to enact their agenda despite opposition from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.”
The article reports some of the political changes in North Carolina in recent years:
Then, in 2022, the GOP picked up two seats in the state house and another two seats in the state senate. Most crucially, last November saw Trump-endorsed Congressman Ted Budd (R-N.C.) win the open race for the state’s U.S. Senate seat, by a margin of 3.2 percent against Democrat Cheri Beasley.
While the North Carolina GOP has enacted its veto override against Governor Cooper before, Cotham’s switch solidifies their majority and now all but guarantees that the party can pass laws without Cooper’s signature.
According to North Carolina Public Radio, part of the reason for Ms. Cotham’s switch to the Republican party was the fact that she felt as if she were treated unfairly by the Democrats. That should be a reminder to all of us to treat each other with the respect and care that we ourselves expect.