NC NEWSLINE - Rep. Tricia Cotham, the Democrat-turned-Republican who upended North Carolina politics, has a Democratic challenger in the Mecklenburg House district where she’s running for another term.
Yolanda Holmes, the Democrat who came in second to Cotham in a four-way Democratic primary in 2022, filed to run in the district.
Cotham, a Mint Hill resident, became a GOP hero when she switched parties this year to give Republicans a supermajority in both chambers of the General Assembly.
Democrats in her district call her traitor.
Cotham voted with her Republican colleagues this year to restrict abortion, ban gender affirming care for minors, and change voting laws. She championed the successful expansion of private school vouchers.
Cotham was elected from a deeply Democratic district in 2022. When she was a Democrat, her campaign website highlighted her support for voting rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and equitable public school funding. During her first stint in the House, from 2007 to 2017, she was an outspoken supporter of abortion rights.
Republicans drastically changed the shape of the district where Cotham lives, giving her friendlier ground to run in. Republican candidates in District 105 have a slight edge. Former President Donald Trump won the district with 50% of the vote in 2022 over President Joe Biden’s 48%. Republican Ted Budd won the district in his successful campaign for US Senate with 49.7% of the vote to Democrat Cheri Beasley’s 48.3%.