The party switch announced by Rep. Tricia Cotham, of Mecklenburg County, means Republicans now hold the 72 seats required in the 120-seat House to hold a veto-proof majority.
Cotham, a former teacher and assistant principal who had served in the House for nearly 10 years through 2016 before returning in January, announced her decision at a news conference at North Carolina Republican Party headquarters.
House Speaker Tim Moore, who had served previously with Cotham, appointed her this year to co-chair the House K-12 education committee, making her one of the few Democrats to hold top committee posts. And she had already voted with Republicans on a handful of key issues while nearly all other Democrats voted the other way.
Last week, the legislature overrode a Cooper veto for the first time since 2018 when it enacted, over his objections, aAnd Cooper this year has allowed three other bills on topics that he also vetoed in 2021 to become law without his signature. Cotham said later that day that while she didn't support the permit repeal, she had informed both parties she would be absent. She said she was receiving scheduled hospital treatment stemming from a previous bout with COVID-19. But Cotham and the other absent Democrats took criticism for what happened, leading a liberal-leaning group, Carolina Forward, to announce plans to "hold them accountable" in 2024.
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