RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina State Representative Tricia Cotham made the official announcement Wednesday that she's switching parties.
Cotham won the seat as a Democrat for Dist. 112 back in 2022.
She will now be joining the Republican party as their 72nd member, giving the GOP a supermajority in the house.
At the GOP headquarters in Raleigh Wednesday, House Speaker Tim Moore welcomed Cotham. He said he got a sense that Cotham was unhappy and felt she had to vote against her caucus. Moore mentioned that Cotham expressed interest in talking with Republicans and he is excited to see what the future holds on the house floor.
Cotham spoke at the press conference.
She explained that she has been welcomed with open arms into the Republican party. Cotham claims that some Democrats have bullied her and felt that she was trying to be controlled.
"I will not be controlled by anyone," she said.
State Senator Phil Berger was also at the press conference. He said he is pleased to welcome Cotham, saying the Democratic party is losing a lot of its members.
House Democratic leader Robert Reives released a statement on Tuesday, saying she was elected in a majority-Democrat district.
"Rep. Tricia Cotham campaigned as a Democrat and supporter of abortion rights, health care, public education, gun safety, and civil rights. The voters of House District 112 elected her to serve as that person and overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates up and down the ballot," Reives' statement read. "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. Those constituents deserved to know what values were most important to their elected representative."
Reives further called on Cotham to resign. State party chair Anderson Clayton also demanded Cotham's resignation.