![]() “It’s definitely very surreal,” she said. When she voted for the first time in 2022, she said she voted for Cotham.īerke said she felt Cotham will no longer be protecting the values of communities that supported her. State University who attended the event, said she is from Mecklenburg County. As the official event ended, a member of the crowd behind the podium began a call-and-response chant.Ĭriss Berke, a sophomore at N.C. Goodwin emphasized that she hopes Cotham’s vote on the issue “is not up for political grabs.”Ĭlayton briefly took questions at the end of the press conference. “It's a bill creating restrictions that eight years ago, Cotham would have - and did - passionately advocate against.” “It's a cruel bill, a bill that takes away women's control over their own bodies, lives and futures,” Goodwin said. House of Representatives who recently introduced a new bill that, if passed, would ban abortions beginning at conception, except in rare circumstances. It also meant she would be working with Republicans in the N.C. Goodwin said Cotham’s switch meant she would be working with people whose values conflicted with ideas she had worked toward before, like a higher minimum wage, equitable funding for schools and expanded voting rights. The next speaker was Elizabeth Goodwin, the president of Democratic Women for North Carolina. “And if she can't vote with our values, she must resign.” He also pointed out that Cotham voted just over a week ago in support of a House bill that would require sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, which he said was a vote “against her voters.” “What did Tricia Cotham trade away for her voters?” “It is ironic to me that in the middle of Holy Week, when we're about to discuss Judas trading away people for pieces of silver, what did Tricia Cotham trade away for my community?” Pruette said. Pruette questioned how long Cotham had been planning to switch parties and characterized the change as a betrayal of trust. He also mentioned Cotham’s interaction with Bishop, whom he called “no friend of the LGBTQ community.” Two other speakers addressed attendees during the event.Ĭameron Pruette, the chairperson of the LGBTQ+ Democrats of Mecklenburg County, spoke immediately after Clayton. ![]() “She campaigned on protecting LGBTQ rights, and today stood beside Congressman Dan Bishop, the father of H.B. “Tricia Cotham campaigned on protecting reproductive freedoms, and is now seemingly open to new abortion restrictions,” Clayton said. She also pointed out contradictions between how Cotham campaigned and where the representative is placing her support now. “It's a 60 percent Democratic district, y’all - they would not choose to elect a Republican.” ![]() Cotham to champion their values, who are now left with little reassurance that she would do that,” she said. “This is about the constituents that trusted Rep. It is also a problem of trust, Clayton said. She added that voting rights, reproductive rights and public schools are on the line if Cotham does not resign. Cotham’s decision to switch parties is a deceit of the highest order.”Ĭlayton said Cotham's switch is a problem because of how it affects issues - not politics. “We are here to stand up for the people of House District 112 and the North Carolinians across the state who are fearful of what may come next,” Clayton said in her opening remarks. Democratic Party.Ībout 50 supporters stood behind the speakers’ podium, most holding posters that said, “RESIGN,” which were handed out inside the building before the event began. The press conference was led by Anderson Clayton, the chairperson of the N.C. With both, the state’s Republican representatives now have the ability to override Democratic Gov. The change gives Republicans a supermajority in the North Carolina House of Representatives, which the party already held in the North Carolina Senate. Tricia Cotham (R-Mecklenburg) officially announced her departure from the Democratic party on Wednesday, the North Carolina Democratic Party held a press conference outside its headquarters where speakers urged Cotham to resign her office.
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