A Georgia state lawmaker is leaving the Democratic Party to join the GOP after she reportedly angered her Democratic colleagues over a bill promoting school choice.
State Rep. Mesha Mainor, who represents District 56 in the Georgia state House, made the announcement on Tuesday.
“I represent a blue district in the city of Atlanta so this wasn’t a political decision for me. It was a a MORAL one,” Mainor stated. “I will NEVER apologize for being a black woman with a mind of my own.”
My name is Rep. Meisha Mainor and today I made the decision to leave the Democrat Party.
— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 11, 2023
I represent a blue district in the city of Atlanta so this wasn’t a political decision for me. It was a a MORAL one.
I will NEVER apologize for being a black woman with a mind of my own. pic.twitter.com/q3snDGejCN
In a follow-up tweet, Mainor said the party "embraced left-wing radicalism, lawlessness, and put the interests of illegal aliens over the interest of Americans."
I didn’t leave the Democrat Party.
— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) July 11, 2023
The Democrat Party left ME when it embraced left-wing radicalism, lawlessness, and put the interests of illegal aliens over the interest of Americans.
I have nothing to apologize for.
Mainor’s departure from the Democratic Party was first reported by Fox News.
"When I decided to stand up on behalf of disadvantaged children in support of school choice, my Democrat colleagues didn’t stand by me," Mainor told Fox News Digital. "They crucified me. When I decided to stand up in support of safe communities and refused to support efforts to defund the police, they didn’t back me. They abandoned me."
"For far too long, the Democrat Party has gotten away with using and abusing the black community," she continued. "For decades, the Democrat Party has received the support of more than 90 percent of the black community. And what do we have to show for it? I represent a solidly blue district in the city of Atlanta. This isn’t a political decision for me. It’s a moral one."
BREAKING: Georgia Democrat State Rep. @MeshaMainor, who represents a deep blue district in Atlanta, announces that she is switching her party registration to Republican, saying her Dem colleagues "crucified her" over support for school choice.https://t.co/GvlenK6GQl
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 11, 2023
In her interview with Fox, Mainor explained that she “never hesitated to work across the aisle to deliver results for my community and the people I was elected to represent. And that won't change."
She added that she has “been met with much encouragement” over her decision and that it is "humbling to be embraced – for the first time in a long time – by individuals who don’t find fault in a black woman having a mind of her own and be willing to buck the party line."
"The most dangerous thing to the Democrat Party is a black person with a mind of their own. So, it wouldn’t surprise me,” she said when asked about pushback from her Democratic colleagues.
In May, Mainor posted a video on Twitter slamming her Democratic colleagues over their position on school choice.
“I support school choice, parent rights and opportunities for children to thrive, especially those that are marginalized and tend to fail in school,” she said in the video. “The Democrats at the Capitol took a hard position and demanded every Democrat vote against children and for the teachers union. I voted yes for parents and yes for children.”
“I have a few colleagues upset with me to the point where they are giving away $1,000 checks to anyone that will run against me,” she added. “Let's be real. Parents do not want their child trapped in a failing school.”
I’m a sitting Democrat in the Georgia House of Representatives and the Democrat Party Establishment is looking to take me out.
— Rep. Mesha Mainor (@MeshaMainor) May 20, 2023
I’m tired of hearing certain folks in my party chant Black Lives Matter during Election Years but are NOWHERE to be found any other year. pic.twitter.com/wuMdVBeCki
"Education and the importance of school choice has been – and will continue to be – a key focus of mine," Mainor said in her interview with Fox. "But outside of education, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Georgia General Assembly to tackle the most pressing issues facing our state and to help grow the Republican Party, helping us not focus not just on preaching to the choir but growing the congregation."
In April, Townhall reported how a state lawmaker in North Carolina switched from the Democratic Party to Republican Party, giving the House a GOP supermajority.
State Rep. Tricia Cotham represents a Democrat-leaning district near Charlotte. When she made the decision to join the GOP, she said in a press conference that her party became “unrecognizable.”
“The modern day Democratic has become unrecognizable to me and to so many others throughout this state and this country. The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions, who wants to get to work to better our state, not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after a workshop, but really work with individuals to get things done because that’s what real public servants do,” Cotham said. “If you don’t do exactly what the Democrats want you to do, they will try to bully you. They will try to cast you aside.”