Name: 'I Will Not Be Bullied,' North Carolina Democrat Representative Switches to Republican
Uploaded: 2023-04-06T01:47:23.000Z
Description: State Rep. Tricia Cotham, who won her district Mecklenburg district in the 2022 midterm election, has announced that she’s switching from the Democrat to the Republican party, giving the GOP a full supermajority.

Arian Pasdar is an international correspondent for NTD News based in South America. His reporting focuses on immigration and key events in Latin America.

Arian Pasdar

NTD Plus

News

News with integrity, from the United States and around the world. Focused reports and analyses that shed light on major issues the world deserves to know. NTD Evening News airs daily at 6 p.m. ET.

NTD Evening News

US and Mexico Start 3-Day USMCA Trade Talks After US Imposed 50 Percent Tariff on Canada

David Lam is a national correspondent based in California and a part-time anchor for "NTD Tonight." Before joining NTD he was a financial analyst.

David Lam

66 Percent of California Adults Oppose 2035 Zero-Emission Car Mandate

Cary Dunst is the news anchor for NTD Evening News. He is also the co-host of NTD Good Morning.


Cary Dunst

‘It’s About Time’: Brownstone Institute President’s Reaction to Federal Government’s Pause on Medicaid Payments

Christina Corona is a California-based reporter for NTD News. She primarily covers California news, politics, and entertainment.  

Christina Corona

Novo Nordisk Sues Eli Lilly Over Drug Ads

Jack Bradley is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Jack previously anchored "NTD Newsroom" and worked as an assistant producer for the show. 

Jack Bradley

Capitol Hill Panel Warns of CCP Human Rights Abuses, AI, and Cyber Warfare

Jason Perry is an Army veteran and NTD's national security correspondent. Jason primarily covers border security, national defense, foreign wars, and veterans' issues.

Jason Perry

US, Israel Help Lebanon Secure Territory from Hezbollah

Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at zack.stieber@epochtimes.com

Zachary Stieber

Jason Blair is a national correspondent for NTD News based in California. 

Jason Blair

US News

Trump Admin Pausing $1 Billion in Medicaid Payments to 2 States

Sam Wang is a Washington correspondent for NTD News based in Washington, D.C. Sam covers politics on Capitol Hill, and U.S.-China relations. 

Sam Wang

Citizens React to Socialist Trend Within Democratic Party

Fiona Ji is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers local news.

Fiona Ji

New State Department Report Describes Cuban Regime's Subversion in US

Communist Cuba’s 'Decade Long Project to Sow Discord Within the US': Policy Analyst

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 22)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 21)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 20)

Chris Beers is an NTD News anchor and political correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Chris co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Chris Beers

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 19)

Arleen Richards is NTD's legal correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers all major legal stories. Arleen holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.).


Arleen Richards

Full Episodes

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 18)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 17)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 16)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 15)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 14)

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (July 13)

Tom Gantert is a reporter for The Epoch Times.

Tom Gantert

Melina Wisecup is NTD's congressional correspondent based in Washington, covering Capitol Hill and campaign politics.

Melina Wisecup

Politics

Executive Branch

Trump Uses Recent Speeches to Warn Americans of Resurging Communism

NTD+ is a streaming platform featuring exclusive programming, investigative news analysis, and award-winning documentaries.


NTD+

Shorts

Alleged Reflecting Pool Vandalism Caught on Video

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

Shows

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

2.8 Million People in China Evacuated Amid Typhoon Bavi

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

Iran's Football Team Leaves Note of Friendship

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Congress

House Passes Legislation to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

Sen. Lindsey Graham Likely Died After Aorta Tear, Medical Examiner Says

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. 

Jack Phillips

Andrew Thomas is a reporter for NTD News primarily covering business, the economy, and technology. 

Andrew Thomas

World News

Middle East

UN Maritime Group to Rescue 11,000 Sailors Stranded in Middle East

Mary Man is a writer for NTD. She has traveled around the world covering China, international news, and arts and culture.

Mary Man

China News

China Floods: Thousands at Risk After Multiple Dams Collapse in Guangxi

NTD Films

NTD+ Movies

The Unrestricted War

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Iran

US, Iran Launch New Strikes; Trump Warns Ceasefire May Collapse

State Rep. Tricia Cotham, who won her district Mecklenburg district in the 2022 midterm election, has announced that she’s switching from the Democrat to the Republican party, giving the GOP a full supermajority.

A supermajority can override any veto from Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper, a governor who’s vetoed a record number of Republican bills.

In a speech given at an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=181740941376864">NCGOP press conference</a>, Cotham said her reason is that the current Democract party is “unrecognizable” to her “and many others.”

“The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions, who 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’s what real public servants do,” Cotham said. “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.”

Cotham said that when she arrived as a legislator in January 2023, it became clear she had to follow Cooper’s directives.

“I will not be controlled by anyone,” Cotham said. “I have always been a free thinker, a woman of faith, a person of independent judgment and of common sense. I have always tried to work across the aisle from day one and I’m proud of that work because that means we are working together as statesmen and stateswomen.”

Unfortunately, she said, within the Democrat party, working across the aisle is only talk with little action.

Since being a representative of the state, Cotham said she’s “suffered many attacks” from Democrats, which included her children being targeted.

“That is wrong, and I will not stand for that,” she said. “I will not be bullied by them, and I will protect my children and my family.”

Cotham said she believes that as a legislator, it’s her duty to hear all sides before deciding how to vote; however, the Democrats have become “afraid of independent thought.”

“Perhaps they don’t like what they can’t control,” she said. “It became very clear to me this was about control on day one at the legislature.”

Cotham, a former schoolteacher, was appointed to serve in 2007, becoming one of the state’s youngest lawmakers. In 2016, she didn’t run for reelection.

In the 2022 primaries, she was elected to represent the 112<sup>th</sup> district based in Mecklenburg County.
<h2>'Frustrated With Their Own Party'</h2>
In the press conference, House Speaker Tim Moore said Cotham isn’t the only Democrat with whom he’s been speaking on their dissatisfaction with the Democrat party, citing the pervasiveness of woke ideologies causing frustration among party members.

“There are a lot of folks on the other side of the aisle, I think who are frustrated with their own party,” Moore said.

Republican state Sen. Phil Berger said Cotham is one of many who have gone public to declare that the Democrat party has abandoned its former values.

“The Democratic party seems to value ideological purity and adherence to whatever the superior individuals, the governor, or someone else in the party says is the right way to think, and that is not the American way and that is something that will continue to lead to further dissipation of membership in the Democratic party,” Berger said.
<h2>The Potential Impact of Her Decision</h2>
Andy Jackson, director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the John Locke Foundation—an independent research institute in North Carolina that examines issues of freedom, personal responsibility, and limited constitutional government—told The Epoch Times that her switch gives the House a supermajority.

In the <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/north-carolina-sees-red-wave-despite-it-not-reaching-expected-peak-nationally-analyst_4857897.html">2022 election</a>, Republicans in the state senate gained the supermajority by winning two seats.

Though the state house Republicans won seven seats that formerly leaned Democrat, it still failed to gain the supermajority.

Cotham's switch gives both chambers a Republican supermajority, he said, and with that, the power to override all vetoes.

“Now, Republicans can do a lot more than they could have done a week ago,” Jackson said.

Adding to that, the North Carolina Supreme Court gained two Republican wins in the 2022 election that changed it from 4–3 Democrat to 5–2 Republican, making it less likely that there will be a judicial stoppage of Republican policies.

Though many Democrats are calling for her to be recalled, Jackson said North Carolina doesn’t have recall elections, so she’s keeping her seat unless she resigns.

In the case of her resignation, she would be replaced by the Mecklenburg Democrat Party because that was the party with which she was affiliated when she was elected.
<h2>'A Deceit of the Highest Order'</h2>
The North Carolina Democrat Party Chair Anderson Clayton and Mecklenburg County Democrat Party Chair Jane Whitley called Cotham’s decision a “deceit of the highest order.”

“Rep. Cotham’s decision is a betrayal to the people of HD-112 with repercussions not only for the people of her district, but for the entire state of North Carolina,” the Democrat chairs said in a <a href="https://www.ncdp.org/media/ncdp-statement-on-rep-tricia-cotham/">joint statement</a>. “If she can no longer represent the values her constituents trusted her to champion, she should resign immediately.”

State Sen. Natasha Marcus joined in criticizing Cotham, suggesting that Cotham won her seat under the guise of being a Democrat.

“If candidate Tricia Cotham had been honest before the election, she would not have won her seat,” <a href="https://twitter.com/NatashaMarcusNC/status/1643320911628496896?s=20">Marcus posted in a Tweet</a>. “The people of her district do not support the extreme rightwing policies that the NCGOP is shoving down our throats, now with her help. This is dishonest and undemocratic.”

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/i-will-not-be-bullied-north-carolina-democrat-representative-switches-to-republican_5173621.html">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Videos

north carolina

04_Top Stories

Republicans

Democrats

Latest Clips

Matt McGregor is an Epoch Times reporter who covers general U.S. news and features. 
Send him your story ideas: matt.mcgregor@epochtimes.us 


Matt McGregor

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.

'I Will Not Be Bullied,' North Carolina Democrat Representative Switches to Republican

Paul Greaney is an NTD news anchor and producer. Since joining the company in 2018, he has anchored the station’s flagship Evening News broadcast, launched the NTD Business show, and produced documentary reports on pointed issues. 

The highlight of Paul’s time in the field was his coverage of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Paul Greaney

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (July 22)

Stefania Cox is an NTD News anchor and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Stefania anchors "NTD Newsroom," and co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Stefania Cox

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (July 22)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (July 21)

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (July 21)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (July 20)

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (July 20)

Special Coverage

[LIVE July 23 at 11:30 AM ET] 2026 Rally and March to End the Persecution of Falun Dafa

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (July 17)

NTD Good Morning Full Broadcast (July 17)

Tiffany Meier is an anchor, China news investigative reporter, and producer for NTD News based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Tiffany anchors NTD's flagship shows "NTD Evening News" and "China in Focus" and co-moderates NTD's special election coverage "The Nation Decides." She produced the award-winning NTD Original documentary "Hollywood Takeover: China's Control in the Film Industry."
