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GOP gains another rep. in party switcheroo

GOP gains another rep. in party switcheroo


GOP gains another rep. in party switcheroo

A former Democrat from Georgia stands by her decision to switch parties, insisting that she's not the one who's guilty of abandonment.

Citing the Democrats' hypocrisy regarding minorities, school choice, and crime, State Representative Mesha Mainor (pictured), has decided to join the GOP.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Mainor said the Left, which claims to support and advocate for minorities, specifically black Americans, is selling lies.

"We cannot say that we care about people in marginalized communities if we want to keep them suppressed and oppressed," Mainor asserted. "One of the things that bothered me the most is when I would ask them, 'Why are we doing this? Why is it okay for kids to not be able to read?' Their response to me was, 'We've got to give them hope, so they need to just stay where they are.'"

She submits that a lie is not hope.

"In our community committee meetings, they would actually say that parents of poor children could not make decisions for them; they needed the lawmakers to make the decisions for them," the Georgia representative continued. "I completely do not agree with that."

Two of her main motivations for leaving the Democratic Party are learning proficiency and crime – in that order.

"What I see is that 3% of the kids can read," she told Fox News. "I also see crime at skyrocketing rates. We do not have time to defund the police, and we no longer have time to say that it's okay for children to not be able to read."

"It's ironic. I hear 'Black Lives Matter,' but do they?" she wondered. "I see every other minority being prioritized, except black children living in poverty that can't read."

"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 detailed, "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."

Mainor's decision to switch political parties while in office, which extends the Republican majority in the Georgia House, comes after former Georgia State Rep. Vernon Jones made the same move in 2021.