North Carolina state legislator who switched parties launches reelection bid

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham, whose party switch earlier this year blindsided state Democrats and gave Republicans veto-proof majorities in both legislative chambers, announced Saturday she will run for reelection.

Cotham’s announcement ends speculation over her political future after Republicans last month redrew maps for the state’s congressional and legislative districts that seemed to reward her with options if she chose to run for office in 2024.

The redrawn state House map places Cotham’s Mint Hill residence in a new district where Republicans appear to have a slight advantage, according to statewide election data. Had her district gone unchanged, she would have faced an extremely tough path for reelection.

She alternatively could have run for U.S. Congress in a redrawn district without an incumbent along the state’s southern border.

“After our prayers and talks, I’ve decided that I will seek re-election to keep representing Mecklenburg County and I look forward to meeting the voters of HD-105,” Cotham wrote Saturday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Cotham had won her current state House seat in a Democratic district near Charlotte in 2022 and has since been lambasted by constituents who say they felt betrayed when she changed her affiliation to Republican in April. Her switch gave Republicans the last seat they needed to secure supermajorities and repeatedly override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes.