Thread by @JeffJacksonNC

This morning there was a political earthquake in North Carolina.

A legislator in the state House announced she was switching parties from Democrat to Republican.

I want to make sure you understand how dramatic the impact of this one switch will be.

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Until today, Democrats had enough votes to sustain the Governor’s veto - but only by a margin of one vote in the NC House.

With this switch, Republicans now have a supermajority in both chambers, which just gave them full control for the first time since 2017.

I can’t overstate the consequences of this switch.

While we don’t know how she will vote on any given bill, dozens of bills that were essentially dead - from elections law changes to reproductive freedom to LGBTQ rights to education policy - may have just sprung back to life.

And the state budget - which controls education funding - can now be passed entirely on the basis of Republican votes.

This will likely have a major impact on funding for public education and teacher pay.

I have never seen anything like this.

This legislator was a long-time Democrat and had just been elected on a strongly Democratic platform in a district that votes Democratic by roughly 20 points.

I am hearing from many of her constituents and they are in a state of shock.

There are no recall provisions in North Carolina. She will be able to serve her full two-year term, which just began in January. For that period, Republicans will now be in full control.

It is unclear whether she intends to run for re-election or seek another office in 2024.

At this point, we can safely say that the decision by this legislator to suddenly switch parties will have major consequences for millions of people.

You can read more here: nytimes.com/2023/04/05/us/…