Though former President Donald Trump’s arraignment is undeniably and understandably the biggest news of the day in America, a huge political story is also playing out in North Carolina – and it’s one that, unlike the Trump news, has Democrats seething with rage, and calling for resignations.

As we previously reported, Rep. Tricia Cotham, who represents the 112th District in the North Carolina House, is set to announce on Wednesday that she is switching her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

A former school teacher and principal, Cotham served as a Democrat in the state legislature from 2007 to 2017, and took time away from that before running again in 2022 as a Democrat and winning.

Though she hasn’t officially announced, Cotham has already taken her place on the Republican side of the NC House:

Just in time for votes @triciacotham takes a seat on the Republican side of the House. She didn’t respond to my question about her party affiliation as she walked in #ncga #ncpol pic.twitter.com/OkBVHOFWvC

— Mary Helen Jones (@MHJreports) April 4, 2023

As Bonchie noted in his write-up, though Republicans already enjoyed sizable majorities in the House and Senate, prior to Tuesday they were one vote shy of a veto-proof majority in the House. Since his first year in office (2017), Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper has used his veto power a record number of times to keep GOP-pushed legislation from becoming law. A week ago, Republicans were successful for the first time since 2018 in overriding a Cooper veto, on gun rights legislation. That veto came after three Democrats, including Cotham, were absent the day the veto override attempt in the House took place.

While the Usual Suspects on the left in NC politics are already foaming at the mouth over Cotham’s move, calling it blatantly political, neutral political observers have noted that there’s more than meets the eye here. After all, Cotham is in a district seen as reliably blue, and seeing someone in that type of district switch from Democrat to Republican is something you just don’t see very often—if at all—from someone who in the eyes of their critics is “playing politics”:

This is an atypical party switch. Cotham is a lifelong Democrat and the daughter of another elected D. Lives in a bright blue district. AND she’s not leaving the party to be independent, she’s outright switching. #ncpol #ncga https://t.co/6s7sPQF6St

— John Cluverius (@JohnCluverius) April 4, 2023

Futher, in an even more alarming sign for North Carolina Democrats, Cotham’s switch may not be the last one they face in the coming months:

While Cotham’s party switch is very notable, she’s far from the only Democrat to watch. Reps. Shelly Willingham of Edgecombe County and Michael Wray of Northampton County have supported more bills similar to measures previously vetoed by Gov. Cooper than Cotham. #ncpol pic.twitter.com/KpuKMm5wcU

— Bryan Anderson (@BryanRAnderson) April 4, 2023

There may be something to that, as GOP House Speaker Tim Moore hinted in remarks to reporters at the start of the latest legislative session that there might be some party switches coming:

House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters at the beginning of this year’s session that he thought several House Democrats might switch parties, but he didn’t name them.

Though we’ll learn more from Cotham on Wednesday as to the reasons why she made the decision, one of her Democrat colleagues in the House gave some hints in comments made to the Raleigh News and Observer:

Rep. Cecil Brockman, a Guilford Democrat, said Democrats only had themselves to blame.

[…]

“I think she just wanted to do what’s best for her district and when you’re constantly talked about and trashed — especially the way that we have been over the past few weeks — I think this is what happens,” Brockman told The News & Observer.

Asked what he thought about Cotham’s decision resulting in a proper Republican supermajority, Brockman said Democrats should be more introspective.

“I hope the (Democratic) party takes a strong look at how they react to people making the decisions that they make — they put themselves in this position,” Brockman said.

Tricia Cotham has long been viewed as a “middle of the road” Democrat in North Carolina politics, and how she was treated after the veto override she missed likely was what firmly pushed her in the direction she was already headed.

As for Roy Cooper’s “grip on power,” here’s the latest on that:

Roy Cooper’s grip on power. #ncpol #ncga https://t.co/SMCPFHcJws pic.twitter.com/iVnTjH0aWS

— André Béliveau (@TheRealBeliveau) April 4, 2023

Between the North Carolina Supreme Court flipping to red in 2022, coupled with their March decision to revisit a crucial redistricting case, and now Cotham’s switch with more possible coming from Democrats who are fed up with the “wokeness” – all of these things have been astonishing turns of events for a state that was widely predicted by some “political experts” not that long ago to gradually go from purple to blue with no turning back.

While that might have seemed possible when Barack Obama surprisingly won the state in 2008, it increasingly looks like a pipe dream for them now, even with voters electing a Democrat governor for two straight terms.

You love to see it. You truly do.

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