Georgia Democrat Defects to GOP, Slams Party for ‘Using and Abusing Black Community’
By: Mark Steffen
July 12, 2023 (Updated): Georgia Republicans on Tuesday nabbed an endorsement from one of the most unlikely lawmakers — a Black female Democrat from liberal Atlanta.
Mesha Mainor, a Georgia state lawmaker since January 2021, announced she was leaving her party and enrolling as a Republican, saying her support for a recent school choice bill proved pivotal in her decision to switch party affiliations. “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 said she will continue to work across party lines but that the GOP’s welcome has been warm for someone from her background. It is, she said, “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 if she expects Democrats to put her on their target list for the next election cycle, 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.”
“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,” Mainor continued. “I’m not apologizing because my colleagues don’t like how I vote.”
Since taking office, Mainor has been an outspoken advocate for school choice, pointing to the dismal 3 percent reading proficiency rate across all children in her district. Her support for a state school choice bill was centered on policies that would have created $6,500 vouchers for students at schools performing in the bottom 25% in the state, to help pay for private school tuition and homeschooling expenses if they were inclined.
The switch by Mainor follows one made by Black former Democrat Vernon Jones who made the same move in 2021. Republicans in Georgia’s House of Representatives hold a comfortable margin, and the latest addition to their caucus will only add to its strength.
Source: Trending Politics
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