Parents' Bill of Rights Has Clear Path to Law, Thanks to Former Democrat

Earlier this week, North Carolina State Representative Tricia Cotham was labeled a "traitor" among member of the Democratic Party after announcing she would be leaving to join the GOP just months after her election to represent her safely blue district, handing Republicans supermajority control of the state House of Representatives.

The implications of her decision were clear. While she expressly stated during a press conference announcing the switch that she was "still the same person," Cotham's announcement was light on policy specifics, leaving some to wonder whether she would continue to support her previous positions supporting abortion rights or standing with the LGBTQ+ community in light of her new affiliations.

Cotham will also face questions over her support of a controversial bill known as the Parents' Bill of Rights, which critics say could undermine the rights and protections currently in place for LGBTQ+ students attending public schools.

If enacted, the bill—a version of which has gained traction nationally—would mandate schools to provide parents with broad information about their child's activities at school, and require parental approval for everything from medical exams to material to which they may have moral objections, among other requirements.

After passing the Senate on a party-line vote this spring, the bill now lands in the lap of the North Carolina House of Representatives, where Republicans now have a clear advantage over Democrats along with the ability to override vetoes by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. Republicans also enjoy a conservative majority on the state Supreme Court, meaning that any laws they pass will potentially have a greater chance of withstanding any legal challenges from liberal opponents.

The question now remains whether Cotham—who has previously committed to supporting LGBTQ+ rights as a candidate—would be willing to support her new party's legislative agenda.

While unlikely to help her electoral chances, experts say, Cotham's decision to switch parties will afford her a level of power she previously lacked. To override Cooper's vetoes, Republicans will need every vote they can get, giving Cotham room to defect on key votes to extract concessions from her GOP colleagues for other priorities for her district.

However, former North Carolina State Representative Chaz Beasley told Newsweek that Cotham is entering a Republican conference that—like many others around the country—is at war with itself between its far-right wing and its party moderates, potentially leaving her vulnerable and with fewer options to negotiate across the aisle.

"At some point, she's either going to have to just basically be a rubber stamp, or she's going to have to do what she said she would do, which is vote against some of these Republican priorities," he said. "And that is when the Republicans that had zero criticism of her are going to have plenty of criticisms of her."

And if she does defect, it would be highly unusual—and potentially unacceptable for Republican leadership.

"Democrats are not unfamiliar with Democrats crossing the party line to vote for the Republican priorities," Beasley said. "That's not something that's new to Democrats in the North Carolina General Assembly. But it would be new for Republicans to cross the aisle and vote for Democratic priorities, especially if leadership has made clear that they do not want that to happen."

Newsweek has emailed Cotham's office for comment.