Checking 5 of NC Rep. Tricia Cotham's claims about NC Dems and why she switched parties
To hear state Rep. Tricia Cotham tell it, the former Democrat joined the GOP this month because Democrats pushed her out.
Cotham’s decision wasn’t just an intriguing personal story: her family has been involved in the Democratic Party for decades. It was a tectonic shift in North Carolina politics, giving the GOP the seat it needed to gain a legislative supermajority. If Republicans vote as a bloc, they’ll be able to override the vetoes of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Explaining her decision to switch parties during an April 5 press conference, Cotham described Cooper as controlling. She said Minority Leader Robert Reives wouldn’t speak to her. And she said that, despite her stint in the legislature from 2008 to 2016, she returned to the state capitol in January only for Democrats to treat her like a freshman.
Democrats, who have dismissed Cotham’s complaints about bullying, are now refuting her other comments – saying they are either misleading or inaccurate.
PolitiFact North Carolina called, texted, emailed and approached Cotham at the legislature asking her to elaborate on her claims. She didn't respond to numerous questions about her claims.
Who makes the House seating chart
Cotham served in the legislature from 2008 to 2016, leaving when the GOP controlled not only the legislature but also the executive branch. When she returned, a Democrat occupied the Governor’s Mansion and the party needed every available vote to sustain his veto power.
During her press conference, Cotham complained that Cooper controlled the Democratic caucus — down to where members sit.
“It became very clear to me early on in January that you’d better vote in line with everything Governor Cooper tells you to do, from signing on to bills, to he wanted to pick your seat on the House floor, to your committee requests,” she said. “All of this sense of control. I will not be controlled by anyone.”
PolitiFact can’t verify Cooper’s motivations. However, we can clarify that he has no direct control over where House members sit.
The majority party has final say in where House members sit, and its guidance for doing so is outlined by the set of rules they adopted earlier this year.
“The Speaker essentially sets them based on seniority, seniority, and input from other members, including Leader Reives at times,” Demi Dowdy, spokeswoman for Speaker Tim Moore, told PolitiFact in a phone interview.
Reives and other Democratic House leaders have asked members of their caucus if they have specific requests, said Todd Barlow, Reives’ chief of staff. Then they send their party’s suggestions to Moore and the chairman of the Rules Committee, a Republican.
“Most of the time they have accepted our recommendations exactly. Sometimes they did not, but it was never a big deal or point of contention,” Barlow said. “The Governor’s Office has no role whatsoever. I’m sure the Republicans do not consult with them and neither do I. It never occurred to me to do so. Certainly, no one from the Governor’s team has ever reached out to me concerning a floor seat assignment.”
Cooper’s office also pushed back on Cotham’s claim.
"The Governor has not expressed any opinion about and has no role in choosing where legislators sit on the House or Senate floor,” said Jordan Monaghan, a Cooper spokesman. “The House Speaker and Senate President Pro [Tempore] and their respective Rules Chairs make those decisions exclusively."
Leaving the legislature
In 2008, Cotham became the youngest woman elected to North Carolina’s General Assembly. She served until 2016 and then ran again in 2022, winning a four-candidate Democratic primary before cruising to a general election victory in her left-leaning district.
During her press conference, Cotham reflected on her departure from the legislature.
“I left the legislature for deeply personal and family reasons, wanted to get my child off to school and start kindergarten and had other things going on,” she said. “I needed that break. And that break was really good for me.”
Cotham didn’t mention that in 2016, her last year in the legislature, she decided to run for Congress. She entered the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District, which featured incumbent Rep. Alma Adams. Cotham placed third behind Adams and Malcolm Graham, now a Charlotte City Councilman.
‘Assigned a freshman mentor’
Cotham said during the April 5 press conference that, despite her previous legislative experience, House Democrats treated her like a newcomer. She described her experience at her first caucus meeting.
“At that meeting, I was labeled a freshman,” she said. “I was assigned a freshman mentor. I’m usually the one who mentors freshmen, and I was told no.”
Reives’ office says that’s not what happened. House Democrats do have a freshman caucus. Barlow, Reives’ primary liaison to the caucus, says Cotham was never considered to be a freshman.
“I can confirm the freshman chairs talked with her about coming to a freshman meeting, but it was as a presenter to give her perspective on how to be an effective legislator,” Barlow said. “Again, they invited her specifically because of her previous legislative experience. She declined to join one of the weekly zoom meetings and offered to do it in a different format but then she never got back to anyone on that and it never happened.”
House Democrats have a mentor program, but Barlow said it’s informal and voluntary. Barlow said Reps. Vernetta Alston of Durham County and Terry Brown of Mecklenburg County asked Cotham “if she was interested in having a mentor since she had not been in the legislature for a number of years.”
Barlow, who answered WRAL’s questions by email, made a point to emphasize the casual nature of the caucus programs.
“She said she wasn’t interested and that was the end of that,” Barlow said. “No one is assigned anything. It is fair to say she was offered a mentor if she wanted it and she declined.”
Reaction to pistol permit rule repeal
During Cotham’s press conference, reporters asked Cotham whether she had spoken with Reives about her decision to switch parties.
Cotham responded: “When Representative Reives sent out a statement last week encouraging us to resign and/or a primary challenge really showed the low blow of where we are in this institution,” Cotham said.
“It’s never been like this here,” she continued. “I’ve never known a minority leader or majority leader – and I think [Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger] would back me up on that – to directly call for a member of his or her own caucus.”
It appears Cotham was referring to Reives’ statement about GOP legislators scrapping a state law requiring North Carolinians to obtain a permit from their local sheriff before buying a handgun.
Lawmakers introduced and passed the bill earlier this year. Cooper vetoed it. Then, on March 29, GOP legislators voted to override Cooper while three Democratic House members — including Cotham — were absent. Had the Democrats been there and voted with their party, they would have been able to preserve the law.
That same day, Reives released a statement that highlighted the importance of elections.
“Elections have consequences,” the statement said. “If voters want a different direction on gun safety, the 2024 primary and general elections are their only avenue for change.”
The statement didn’t include a call on Cotham or anyone to resign. Nor did it explicitly call on candidates to file primary challenges.
Cotham didn’t respond to a question about this claim, which PolitiFact rated Mostly False.
Talking to Reives
Cotham said during her press conference that she had not spoken with Reives.
“He’s never talked to me all session,” she said. “I’ve tried. I’ve reached out. I’ve offered to help. So I guess he gets his wish.”
Reives disputed that claim, providing PolitiFact with photos of text exchanges he said he had with Cotham. The images show more than two dozen texts purportedly exchanged between Reives and Cotham between November and April 4, when news leaked that she was leaving the party.
The texts portray a friendly relationship. They swapped emojis and memes. Reives congratulated Cotham on winning her race on Nov. 11 and congratulated her for being appointed a chair of the House K-12 Education Committee, something Cotham said prompted suspicion among Democrats and left her feeling shunned.
The images show that she sometimes texted to ask about caucus positions on bills and explained her hesitation to join the Democrats in opposing certain legislation, such as the bill that would require sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
On March 6 — less than a month before Cotham would announce her party switch — images show Reives texted Cotham an invitation to get dinner and drinks at a restaurant in Raleigh.
The morning the House voted to override Cooper’s veto of the pistol permit legislation, images show Cotham texted Reives to let him know she might be absent — but would try to attend the voting session.
“We texted a lot,” Reives said. “We texted about medical issues. We texted about family vacations. We texted about anything.
“She would talk to me about when she couldn’t make caucus, things of that sort,” he said. “She was actually really good at checking in with me, so I have no idea why she made that statement.”
On April 4, images show Reives texted Cotham to ask about reports of her switching parties. Cotham texted him to say she was in a meeting and couldn’t talk.
