Who is Tricia Cotham? Mecklenburg Democrat flips parties, giving NC GOP supermajority.

In 2007, a then-28-year-old Tricia Cotham made her case for a state legislative seat with a message that she’d be a fresh face. And it worked.

One month after former N.C. House Speaker James B. Black of Matthews resigned before pleading guilty to federal and state corruption charges, Cotham won 23 of 32 votes from Democratic officials in House District 100 — enough to win an appointment to the vacated seat.

“They want somebody who will play fair. And I’ll play fair,” Cotham told The Charlotte Observer at the time.

She overcame complaints that she didn’t live in the district, putting her Mint Hill home up for sale and moving into a townhouse in the district that stretched then from Eastland Mall to Matthews. She touted a passion for politics and a family history of working for Democrats.

On Wednesday, Cotham strayed from that family tradition by announcing her switch to the Republican Party, giving the GOP a supermajority in the N.C. House and spurning Democrats who just one week ago sharply criticized her for missing a veto override vote. Axios Raleigh first reported the news.

Rep. Cecil Brockman, a Guilford County Democrat, told The News & Observer on Tuesday he thought the recent veto override of a bill eliminating the state’s pistol permit requirement marked a turning point in Cotham’s relationship with Democrats.

“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,” said Brockman, who also missed the veto override vote.

Here’s more about the Mecklenburg County legislator who could strengthen the N.C. GOP’s balance of power in the General Assembly.

Watch Cotham’s full statement here:

A family history with N.C. politics

▪ Her father, John, chaired the county’s Democratic Party.

▪ Pat Cotham, her mother, has chaired the Uptown Democratic Forum and the Mecklenburg County Democratic Women. Today, Pat Cotham is a Democratic county commissioner.

▪ Her great-grandmother was a Missouri delegate to the 1948 Democratic National Convention and a worker on former President Harry Truman’s campaign.

Rep. Tricia Cotham’s political background

▪ Tricia Cotham served in the state legislature from 2007 to 2016, when she ran for Congress in a just-redrawn 12th Congressional District.

“You have to be able to work across the aisle (and) build relationships without ever compromising your principles,” she said at the time. “I have an effective leadership style.”

Rep. Alma Adams won that 2016 Democratic primary with 42.51% of the vote. Cotham finished third of seven candidates with 21.13% of the vote.

▪ Cotham succeeded in her 2022 return bid to the legislature, earning nearly 49% of the vote in a four-candidate primary and 59% in the general election.

Her 112th House District covers the eastern tip of Mecklenburg County, including parts of east Charlotte and Mint Hill. The composite of presidential, gubernatorial and attorney general elections in 2016 and 2020 show the district as a Democrat stronghold, with nearly 60% of voters preferring Democrats, according to the website Dave’s Redistricting.

▪ Cotham’s voter registration on Tuesday remained with the Demoratic Party, and the Mecklenburg County Board of Election said it had no pending requests to change her affiliation. She’s only voted in Democratic Party primaries, according to the N.C. Board of Elections.

A career in education

▪ Her education: Providence High, 1997; UNC Charlotte, 2001; UNC Chapel Hill, master’s in school administration, 2006.

▪ She was a public school teacher at Northeast Middle School and Independence High. She was honored as Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Teacher of the Year in 2001. She served as assistant principal at East Mecklenburg High School.

▪ In January 2013, she was named co-chair of the House Education Committee in a majority-Republican chamber. Republicans also moved her seat from the back of the chamber closer to the front.

▪ She currently serves as chair of the House K-12 Education Committee.

Working with Republicans

▪ She, like some other Mecklenburg Democrats, was supportive of Republican Thom Tillis when he became House Speaker in 2010.

▪ When Tim Moore became speaker of the House in 2015, Cotham reflected on his time in the minority under Democratic rule: “He was one of the few Republicans who worked well with Democrats and who Democrats tried to win over sometimes.”

Health struggles

▪ She has been public about her battle with long COVID in recent years. The virus causes symptoms such as fatigue, fever and respiratory issues months or years after an initial diagnosis.

▪ On March 29, the General Assembly successfully bypassed the governor’s veto for the first time since 2018. Senate Bill 41 includes a repeal of the state’s handgun permit requirement.

Cotham was one of three Democrats who were absent during the 71-46 vote due to a medical appointment for long COVID, The Charlotte Observer reported. She said she was opposed to the bill.

Mecklenburg Democrat who missed veto override says she’s opposed to pistol permit repeal