Mere weeks before North Carolina's GOP-controlled legislature over the this week, state Republican lawmakers appeared just one vote shy of an override.
But one House Democrat 鈥� formerly a strong advocate for women's reproductive rights 鈥� unexpectedly and then voted to squash Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of the bill to limit abortion access.
The switch by Charlotte-area Rep. Tricia Cotham also gave Republicans veto-proof margins in both the House and Senate, upending the state's fragile power balance and perhaps opening the floodgates to a new wave of conservative policies.
Republican bill sponsors also could use their newly attained veto-proof majority to propel some GOP-backed and across the finish line 鈥� several of which they she announced her party change.
She ran last fall on a platform supporting abortion access and LGBTQ+ rights but has since supported bills that critics say are at odds with those stances.
鈥淪ome call me a hypocrite since I voted for this bill," Cotham said after supporting the abortion override Tuesday. The former Democrat, who has strong familial ties to the party and was known for giving an emotional House floor speech in 2015 about her own ectopic pregnancy, said she thought the bill struck 鈥渁 reasonable balance鈥� and represented the 鈥渕iddle ground" of two extremes.
Cotham, who earlier this year signed on to legislation to codify abortion protections under Roe v. Wade in state law, was among a small group of GOP legislators who before the vote to sustain his veto. Rep. Ted Davis, who had declined to state publicly his views on the GOP abortion bill, was another.
While Cotham had voted in favor of further restrictions when the measure May 4 鈥� a move many Democratic constituents denounced as a 鈥渂etrayal鈥� 鈥� Davis was the lone Republican absent for the vote, making him a primary target of Cooper's eleventh-hour plea.
The Wilmington-area Republican, who said at a candidate forum last fall that he supported 鈥渨hat the law is in North Carolina right now," which was a 20-week limit, contends he did not break any promises. Davis now stands by his override vote, viewing it as a separate matter and one on which he made no promises.
The new abortion limits set to take effect July 1 also include new rape or incest exceptions through 20 weeks of pregnancy and exceptions for 鈥渓ife-limiting鈥� fetal anomalies during the first 24 weeks. An existing exception remains for when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger.
鈥淏ased on things that have happened in my conscience, I could not vote to support Cooper, in part because of the manner in which he has tried to pressure and bully me into voting to support him,鈥� Davis told The Associated Press after the vote Tuesday.
When announcing her party switch in April, Cotham similarly claimed pressure from Cooper and legislative Democrats made her feel disrespected and in part prompted her defection.
Longtime Democratic consultant Gary Pearce maintains his belief that Cooper's barnstorming strategy was smart and put the new law "under the harsh spotlight it deserves.鈥� The governor showed voters the hypocrisy of their elected officials, Pearce said, in a move he expects will boost Democratic campaigns next year.
鈥淭hey were never on the fence," he suggested of Davis and Cotham. 鈥淭his was not an inside legislative game. It's an outside game 鈥� a 2024 political strategy.鈥�
The governor's office did not respond to an email seeking comment on Davis's criticisms.
Some Democrats are calling for Cotham's resignation. Her vote to enact new abortion restrictions 鈥渨ent against the will of those who elected her," said Nina Rodriguez, a voter and constituent of Cotham's.
Since Cotham joined the GOP, she has also voted for a and a prohibition on trans student athletes playing on the .
