‘Fed up’ Democrats launch campaign to take back seat after Tricia Cotham flips to GOP

Mecklenburg County Democrats cheered in excitement Sunday as party leaders vowed to win back N.C. Rep. Tricia Cotham’s seat after she switched to the Republican party.

Sunday’s rally — led by Charlotte’s U.S. Reps. Alma Adams and Jeff Jackson and the chair of the N.C. Democratic Party Anderson Clayton — marks the Democratic Party’s full-fledged fight to reclaim House District 112, representing east Mecklenburg County, including Mint Hill.

“This signifies our commitment to work even harder on behalf of these people, whose values we share, whose values we fight for, and whose representative told them very clearly, so did she, until she decided to deceive all of us,” Jackson said. “Because you are all here; they have not been abandoned.”

More than 150 people showed up, some wearing Democrat T-shirts and stickers reading “Cotham Lied,” at Mecklenburg County Democratic Party headquarters on East W.T. Harris Blvd. in east Charlotte. Six days ago, Cotham officially joined the Republican Party.

Just three months after being elected, her defection gives North Carolina Republicans a supermajority in the House, guaranteeing the GOP a veto-proof majority over Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on hot-button issues like gun control and abortion.

“It seems uncontroversial to say that’s the wrong thing to do. If you can no longer be a member of a certain political party, that’s fine, but that doesn’t give you license to deceive all of your constituents. I think that’s the issue,” Jackson told The Charlotte Observer.

Cotham, 44, said she left the Democratic Party due to an inhospitable environment for independently-minded lawmakers. She said the party, which her family has been a major part of for decades, had become unrecognizable. Cotham was elected to the North Carolina House four times from 2008 to 2014. She was re-elected in 2022.

People trusted Cotham and looked to her for her leadership, DonnaMarie Woodson, president of Democratic Women Mecklenburg County, said. “People are hurt, outraged, and just fed up,” she said.

Time to resign

Mecklenburg Democrats feel betrayed and have been demanding Cotham resign.

Toni Mingo, a Democrat from the University area and precinct 204 chairwoman, said Cotham should resign because “it’s the right thing to do.” She said Cotham switching parties after being elected “betrayed her supporters who put her in office. And it affects me as well.”

Jackson said he’s known Cotham for 10 years and supported her campaign. He called her decision “deeply unfortunate, not for me, but for her constituents. I don’t think she has addressed her constituents as they deserve regarding this.”

Everything on the line

Democrat leaders said everything is on the line, from reproductive rights to voting rights, LGBTQ rights, and education issues.

“We’re gonna go out, and we’re gonna knock on doors. We’re going to get active and let folks know that Democrats aren’t backing down in 2024,” state Democratic chair Clayton said at the rally’s start.

Democrats are moving forward, they said Sunday.

“We’ve got to pledge to work harder. ...A setback is nothing but a setup for a comeback,” Adams said. “We’ve got to regain our power. ... So let’s stand together, Democrats, unity is our strength, and our strength is our power. And power is what makes the difference in the lives in communities.”

Uniting after ‘betrayal’

Sunday’s rally launches a rebound, Democratic leaders said.

“There is a strategy; there is a way for us to overcome and no longer feel this is a space of despair even though many of us feel betrayed,” said Yolanda Holmes, who ran against Cotham in the primary. “I believe this situation has left us without a voice in the North Carolina General Assembly, but our voices will be heard, and we will be represented.”

Cotham’s flip is just an obstacle, Democrats said.

“I am distressed at Cotham’s deception yet motivated to help Democrats be more successful in promoting and electing real Democrats,” said Jeff Weiss, a Mint Hill resident, about why he came out for today’s event.

‘Not the Democratic Party I grew up in.’ Pat Cotham talks about daughter’s GOP switch

‘A betrayal’: NC Democrats, White House blast Cotham’s decision to leave party, join GOP

GOP say when they knew of Cotham switch — and why everyone should’ve seen it coming

From abortion to school choice, areas to watch now that NC GOP has regained supermajority