Join the (Grand Old) Party! Nearly Four Times as Many Democrats Have Become Republicans as Vice Versa.
Karl Salzmann
August 9, 2023
Over the last 20 years, about four times as many Democratic state lawmakers have switched to the Republican Party as the other way around.
Eighty-three Democratic legislators have joined the GOP since 1994, compared with only 23 Republicans who became Democrats, Politico reported Wednesday. Five of those blue-to-red switches happened just this year.
One of those new Republicans, Georgia state representative Mesha Mainor, said Democrats "crucified" and "abandoned" her for supporting a school choice bill, prompting her party switch. After Mainor, who is black, announced her decision, internet trolls spammed her email with racist slurs, threats, and other abusive comments, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
North Carolina legislator Tricia Cotham, a longtime Democrat, in April announced her switch to the Republican Party, giving the GOP a veto-proof majority in the state legislature and dealing a blow to the state's Democratic governor. Louisiana state representatives Jeremy LaCombe and Francis Thompson also switched parties this year, along with West Virginia lawmaker Elliott Pritt.
https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/join-the-grand-old-party/