Bombshell: Another Democrat From Louisiana Leaves The Party As North Carolina’s State Rep. Cotham Formalizes Her Registration To Republican 

Credit: The New York Post

The Democrat party is losing more and more members of their party. The party is increasingly pushing away people and drifting farther than some people are comfortable with.

Louisiana state Rep. Jeremy LaCombe is the newest member to leave the Democrat party. He is the second Democrat in the state legislature to do so this year.

LaCombe’s leaving coincided with a defection from the Democrat party in North Carolina. State Rep. Tricia Cotham formalized her party resignation from Democrat to Republican. This switch provided GOP legislators with veto-proof control over Governor Roy Cooper (D).

LaCombe is a former prosecutor with an A+ rating from the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association. He took office in 2019, with 62.5% of the vote. His term ends on January 8, 2024.

LaCombe announced on Monday that he would be switching his party affiliation to Republican. The GOP already has a supermajority in the House. They can override Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards’ prospective vetoes and pass tax measures.

The Blaze reported:

The switch comes just before the Republican-dominated legislature convenes in Baton Rouge for its regular legislative session, during which it is expected to tackle culture war issues and designate what to spend additional tax dollars on.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Sam Jenkins appeared to take this second abandonment in as many months in stride, saying, “We look forward to working with Rep. LaCombe during this legislative session to increase wages, lower costs, improve our schools and pass insurance reform that benefit Louisiana families and small businesses.”

With LaCombe’s switch, Democrats now will only have 32 members in the 105-member House, where there are two independents and 71 Republicans.

LaCombe is not the first Democrat to abandon the party in recent weeks.

The Blaze reported last month that after serving 48 years as a Democrat, Louisiana state Rep. Francis Thompson switched parties to Republican, citing the need to stay true to his Christian faith.

“The push the past several years by Democratic leadership on both the national and state level to support certain issues does not align with those values and principles that are a part of my Christian life,” Thompson said.

LaCombe hasn’t specifically indicated what truly prompted his switch, but his voting records show some socially conservative values.

In 2022, he voted in support of both the “Fairness in Women’s Sports” bill (SB 44), prohibiting male students from participating on women’s teams, and SB 388, which bans the sale or use of mail-order chemical abortion drugs.

North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham’s switch is proving to be advantageous. It ensures that Republicans will be able to pass legislation protecting children from genital mutilations and medical intervention, restricting high school athletes to play on sports teams consistent with their biological sex, and protecting medical practitioners from participating in services that violate their consciences.

Cotham joined the Republican Party on April 5. She said the Democratic Party “has become unrecognizable” and wants to “villainize anyone who has free thoughts.”

“Tricia Cotham has been someone who is reasonable, who is moderate and we’ve been able to work with in this session,” said House Rules chairman Destin Hall (R). 

“Her principles and her views have not changed. What has changed is the Democratic Party in North Carolina.”