Tricia Ann Cotham

Cotham has been a state house representative for the Charlotte region for 6.5 terms (on and off since 2007). Her top issues focus on fighting inflation, supporting small businesses, strengthening public safety and investing in education, including raising teacher pay, increasing classroom funding, and expanding Opportunity Scholarships. In the most recent legislative session, she sponsored a number of bills aimed at improving public safety, supporting law enforcement, and enhancing resources for students and schools. She ran unsuccessfully for U.S. House in 2016 but lost to incumbent Alma Adams. She registered as a lobbyist during some of her time between her N.C. House terms. She was a Democrat for most of her political career but in April 2023 switched to the Republican Party, giving the GOP a supermajority. In that 2023-24 legislative session, the legislature overrode all 29 vetoes by then-Governor Roy Cooper. Cotham was the primary sponsor on 49 bills in the current legislative session, including proposals to support in vitro fertilization and defund Planned Parenthood. She was a key figure in getting a bill to authorize a referendum on a sales tax referendum for transit and transportation through the legislature in 2025. She has one of the highest rates of excused absences among N.C. House members at 29% for the current legislative session and 17% for the 2023-24 session.