A lawmaker in North Carolina announced Wednesday that she’s leaving the Democratic Party and becoming a Republican, giving the GOP a veto-proof majority in the state legislature.
State Rep. Tricia Cotham, who represents a district near Charlotte, joined state House and Senate Republican leaders at the North Carolina GOP headquarters for a press conference to unveil her switch.
The “modern-day Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to me and others across the state,” said Cotham. “I will not be controlled by anyone.”
The turning point for Cotham, she explained, was when she was criticized for using the American flag and praying hands emoji on social media and on her vehicles.
Democrats have been “blasting me on Twitter to calling me names, coming after my family, coming after my children,” continued Cotham. “That is wrong.” She added that a woman cursed her out at a store while she was shopping with her son.
