Republicans Net Three New Supermajorities in One Month, Bringing Total to 25

DAVENPORT, IA - JULY 17: A Republican elephant prop sits in front of the Starlite Ballroom
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Jacob Bliss
Washington, DC

Democrat state representatives switching parties and one special election over the last month gave Republicans three new supermajorities in state legislatures, bringing the total to 25 nationwide.

This week, North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham announced her departure from the Democrat party and effectively changed her party affiliation to the Republican Party, ultimately giving the Republicans in the Tar Heel State a veto-proof supermajority in both the House and Senate.

“The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions and wants to get to work to better our state,” Cotham said during a press conference announcing her decision to formally leave the Democrat party. “Not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after a workshop, but really work with individuals to get things done.”

“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,” she added.

Additionally, in mid-March, Louisiana state Rep. Francis Thompson announced his plan to switch party affiliations from the Democrat party to the Republican Party. Like Cotham, Thompson switching parties gave the Louisiana Republicans a supermajority in the state House for the first time ever. Now the Republicans in the Bayou State have a veto-proof supermajority in both the House and Senate.

“This is a happy day, but it’s not a decision that was made in a day,” Thompson said in an interview with USA Today. “I’ve struggled with this and have been thinking about it for more than a year when it has become clear that the Republican Party better represents my values and philosophy today.”

Cotham and Thompson’s decision represents two of three states to achieve the supermajority milestone this year.

Earlier this week, during a special election in Wisconsin, Republican state Rep. Dan Knodl defeated a Democratic attorney, Jodi Habush Sinykin, to win an open Senate seat. The seat became available after longtime Republican incumbent Alberta Darling retired, and the governor called for a special election.

Facebook/Dan Knodl

Knodl’s victory gives Senate Republicans a supermajority in the chamber, enough to override a gubernatorial veto in the Senate. However, a successful override takes a two-thirds vote in the Senate and Assembly. In the Assembly, Republicans remain two seats shy of a supermajority.

“This campaign has always been about focusing on the issues, like rising prices, crime, and education, and I am incredibly grateful to the voters of the 8th Senate District for placing their trust in me to represent them in the Wisconsin State Senate,” Knodl said in a statement Wednesday after winning the seat.

While Republicans in North Carolina and Louisiana can override vetoes from Democrat governors, Republicans in Wisconsin are now just two seats away in the State Assembly from having the power to override vetoes from Democrat governor Tony Evers.

Michael Joyce, the communications director for Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), the largest organization on the state level, dedicated to helping state leaders, told Breitbart News that “Democrats are joining Republican majorities to create supermajorities because they know that their constituents want strong conservative leadership to serve as a check on out-of-control Democrat governors who raise taxes, endanger communities with soft-on-crime policies, and strip parents of their right to have a say in their children’s education.”

“With 25 Republican supermajorities nationwide in state legislative chambers, it’s evident that the American people want principled conservatives to lead while Joe Biden and his Democrat cronies in the states drive our country off a cliff,” Joyce added.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.

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