A black Democrat in Georgia has just switched parties after she was ‘crucified’ and ‘abandoned’ by state Democrats over her support for school choice and her refusal to support efforts to defund the police.
Here’s more via Fox News:
Georgia Democrat defects to GOP after she says Dems 'crucified' and 'abandoned' her https://t.co/kS2Ud6Pfr7
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 11, 2023
A Peach State lawmaker who angered her Democratic colleagues in the Georgia state House of Representatives over her support for a recent school choice bill has announced she is officially switching parties.
Mesha Mainor – a Democrat who has represented District 56 in the Georgia state House since January 2021 – announced the decision shortly before noon Tuesday that she will switch her party registration to Republican.
“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 explained of her decision in a statement to 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 added. “For decades, the Democrat Party has received the support of more than 90% 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.”
Mainor made clear that her work across party lines will continue after she switches parties, saying she has “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.”
Mainor said that she has “been met with much encouragement” amid her decision to switch parties and noted that it’s “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.”
Asked whether she believes she will face pushback from Democrats over her decision, Mainor said, “The most dangerous thing to the Democrat Party is a black person with a mind of their own. So, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
As for her priorities after switching parties, Mainor said she will continue to focus on education and expanding the Republican majority in the House.
“Education and the importance of school choice has been – and will continue to be – a key focus of mine,” she said. “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.”
It’s a damn shame that not supporting the defunding of police and supporting school choice is where Democrats draw the lines. This comes after the nation watched while the Democrat Governor of Pennsylvania pushed hard to get school choice, only to cave to Democrats in his state who refused to support it.
I’m glad Mesha Mainor is switching parties. I just hope she doesn’t turn out to be too much of a RINO.