RALEIGH (April 6, 2023) – The game just changed. Or did it?

The elections last fall gave Republicans a veto-proof majority in the state Senate, but left them one vote shy of the 72 votes they need in the state House (3/5 of those present and voting) to overturn Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes. 

Rep. Tricia Cotham’s switch from Democrat to Republican this week rocked Raleigh and gave Republicans the 72 votes they need, assuming all House Republicans vote as a bloc.

Though they were in the minority, Democrats managed to sustain 47 straight vetoes from Cooper from 2019 until last week, when the House overrode his veto of a bill abolishing pistol permits in the state.

Cotham, of Mecklenburg County, and Reps. Michael Wray, D-Northampton and Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford, were castigated by Democrats for being absent from that vote.¹ 

Cooper issued a statement Tuesday where he called Cotham’s decision to switch parties “disappointing.”

“Representative Cotham’s votes on women’s reproductive freedom, election laws, LGBTQ rights and strong public schools will determine the direction of the state we love. It’s hard to believe she would abandon these long-held principles, and she should still vote the way she has always said she would vote when these issues arise, regardless of party affiliation,” the governor said.

BUT HOUSE SPEAKER Tim Moore has said since the session began that Republicans had a “functional supermajority” thanks to cooperation from several moderate Democrats.

Speculation at the time focused on Cotham, Wray and Shelly Willingham, D-Edgecombe, after the three landed committee chairmanships from Moore early in the session.

Cotham is a former public school teacher who was named Charlotte-Mecklenburg Teacher of the Year in 2001;² she was named co-chair of the House Education K-12 Committee.³

After Cotham’s switch became public Tuesday, progressives began labeling her “#TurncoatTricia.” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said she was elected from a 60% Democratic district and called on her to resign.

At the announcement of her switch Wednesday, Cotham said Democrats have historically had a “big tent.” She said she hasn’t changed, but the party has.

“The modern-day Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to me, and to so many others throughout the state and the country,” she said.

“The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions and wants to get to work to better our state. Not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after a workshop, but really work with individuals to get things done. Because that is what real public servants do. If you don’t do exactly what the Democrats want you to do, they will try to bully you. They will try to cast you aside,” she said.

Brockman told The News & Observer that Democrats’ reactions to the override vote on the gun bill contributed to Cotham’s decision; he said he doesn’t blame her “one bit” for the move.

“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,” he said.

“I hope the (Democratic) party takes a strong look at how they react to people making the decisions that they make — they put themselves in this position,” Brockman said.⁴

So despite the “bombshell” reception to the party switch and the resulting shock in Raleigh, if a handful of House Democrats were already collaborating with Republicans, has that much really changed?

---

¹ https://www.wral.com/story/democrat-cotham-defects-giving-gop-veto-proof-majority-in-nc-house/20796429. 
² https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article273971735.html. 
³ https://www.wral.com/in-bipartisan-nc-house-assignments-a-sign-of-gop-strategy/20676289/. 
⁴ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article273956915.html.