Democrat challenges GOP’s Tricia Cotham in new Mecklenburg district

Yolanda Holmes is the first Democrat to run in 2024 against Rep. Tricia Cotham, who switched her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in April, shaking up state politics and granting Republicans a key vote.

Holmes filed paperwork on Tuesday with the state’s board of elections to run to represent House District 105, a new GOP-leaning Charlotte-area district drawn during this year’s redistricting.

So far, no other Democrats have filed in this district. No Republicans apart from Cotham have filed, either.

Holmes has already faced off against Cotham. In 2022, both ran as Democrats in a race to represent House District 112, a largely Democratic district on the outskirts of Charlotte that at the time encompassed Mint Hill, Grove Park, and other communities. Holmes lost but came second out of four candidates, with Cotham winning the primary with 48% of votes to Holmes’ 31%.

Holmes has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Voorhees University, a master’s degree in criminology from Indiana State University, and a Ph.D. from the School of Public Service Leadership at Capella University, according to Ballotpedia.

She has worked in the U.S. Department of Defense and the Family and Community Engagement Office in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, according to Ballotpedia.

In a Charlotte Observer candidate questionnaire form Holmes filled out in 2022, she wrote that on the issue of abortion she believed in the “right to choose.” She also wrote she believed more youth centers and opportunities to grow should be provided to children and youths to address violent crime. Holmes also supported the legalization of medical marijuana.

Holmes has not yet made a public statement on her filing, and there does not yet appear to be a website for her campaign. A phone message and email from The News & Observer were not returned Tuesday afternoon. Last year, she faced scrutiny after language in parts of her campaign website was found to have been pulled from other sites such as the National Health Law Program. Holmes’ team updated the website and said this language had been a placeholder and accidentally posted, as previously reported by The Observer.

Cotham, while serving as a Democrat in the House from 2007 to 2016 was a staunch supporter of abortion rights and other Democratic priorities. With her switch, which granted Republicans a pivotal veto-proof majority in the House (with the Senate already having a supermajority), she has shifted to support many Republican priorities, including voting to override a veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and enact a new 12-week limit on most abortions, as previously reported by The N&O.

Cotham also sponsored a a school-choice GOP measure that passed into law that allows the state to offer taxpayer-funded, universal scholarships, or vouchers, to attend private schools. Republicans say the program gives families more control over their children’s educational options, while Democrats criticize the bill, saying it moves money away from struggling public schools to private ones. Despite voting in line with Republicans, her stances so far are not among the most conservative in her party.

Second election against Cotham

Now, Holmes and Cotham may face off again, should they win their respective primaries — but in different circumstances.

The new district is much more competitive. It stretches further into southeastern Mecklenburg County and leans slightly Republican: In the most recent U.S. Senate election, voters in HD-105 picked the Republican nominee, Ted Budd, by a margin of only 1.38%.

This means that a race to represent this district will be tight and could come down to turnout, strategy, and the importance Republicans and Democrats place on her race, as previously reported by The N&O.

One thing Democrats will likely highlight in a campaign against Cotham is her switch.

Drew Kromer, chair of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party, told The N&O in November, after Cotham announced she would run for another term, that the party had “already begun fundraising off of Cotham’s announcement. And we anticipate that this will be one of the most expensive state House races in the state this year.”

He said “no matter what side you’re on, you can see that she’s someone that doesn’t keep their word or their promises to their constituents. So, despite Republicans drawing the district in her favor, at the end of the day, voters want to elect somebody that they can trust. And she has shown that she can’t be trusted.”

Asked about the GOP strategy, Stephen Wiley, the caucus director for House Republicans, previously told The N&O that “Cotham is a strong candidate, (with a) strong background” but without knowing who the Democratic candidate will be, the GOP’s strategy is still “pretty generic right now.”

Candidate filing ends this Friday. The primary is set for March 5. The general election is Nov. 5.