Tricia Cotham Faces Resign Calls for Ditching Democrats for GOP: 'Traitor'

North Carolina lawmaker Tricia Cotham has sparked outrage among Democrats after defecting to the Republican Party on Wednesday, with many calling her a "traitor" and asking for her to resign.

Cotham was elected to her second stint in the North Carolina House of Representatives last year as a pro-abortion rights, pro-LGBTQ+ rights Democrat. On Wednesday, she officially joined the GOP, giving the party a supermajority which could represent a headache for North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat.

With Cotham possibly voting in line with the GOP, Cooper's vetoes could easily be overridden by the Republican new supermajority in the state House, and the one that the party already enjoyed in the state Senate, where they hold 60 percent of seats.

But the North Carolina lawmaker said that she decided to move to the GOP to be a "freethinker."

At a news conference at the North Carolina GOP headquarters in Raleigh, she said: "It became very clear to me early on in January that you better vote in line with everything Governor Cooper tells you to do. I have always been a freethinker, a woman of faith, a person of independent judgment and of common sense."

She said that she was already considered "a traitor" by her then-fellow Democrats for expressing opposing opinions and was pushed out of the party. "They've made it very clear they do not want me," she said.

Her defection to the GOP has definitely increased the number of those accusing her of betraying her Democratic voters.

"North Carolina Rep. Tricia Cotham, who won election to a deep-blue Charlotte-area seat as a Democrat just five months ago, changed parties Tuesday — a move that gives Republicans a veto-proof majority," tweeted Democratic commentator, attorney & non-profit advisor Kaivan Shroff. "Cotham is a traitor to democracy."

"TRAITOR: Wolf-in-sheep's clothing, former North Carolina Democratic Rep. Tricia Cotham just switched her party's affiliation to Republican, handing the state GOP a veto-proof majority to ban abortion, in addition to other heinous agenda items," author Majid Padellan, better known by his Twitter handle @BrooklynDad_Defiant! tweeted on Wednesday.

"I think if you vote for someone as a DEM, and they win as a DEM representing YOUR values, and then they decide to switch parties to go against everything you voted for, they should automatically be removed and replaced in a special election. Who agrees?" Padellan added in a later tweet.

"She's a gigantic fraud & a traitor to the party," tweeted another Twitter user. "She lied to folks to get their votes and then violated their trust. It's beyond deceitful. I hope her Dem constituents rise up and let her know on a daily basis how angry they are. They should demand their campaign donations back!"

But despite many on Twitter agreeing with Padellan and calling for Cotham to be removed from office, there is no recall in North Carolina under the state law. Cotham can only be voted out should she run for reelection after she terminates the two years left on her second term.

State Democrats have also called for her resignation, with the state's Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton and Mecklenburg County's Democratic Party chair Jane White saying in a statement that Cotham's defection is "deceit of the highest order."

While it's not clear whether Cotham will change her stance on abortion now that she has joined the GOP, many have expressed fear that the lawmakers might help North Carolina Republicans pass legislation limiting abortion rights in the state.

Emily's List, a group backing women Democrats who support abortion rights, revoked its endorsement of Cotham saying that "Representative Cotham is joining a Republican caucus that has stridently opposed abortion rights, rolled back voting rights, and imposed deep cuts on public education for years."

Newsweek reached out to Cotham's team via email for comment.