An Atlanta-area state representative in Georgia announced on Tuesday that she is leaving the Democratic Party to caucus with Republicans. Mesha Mainor, a black woman, decided to jump to the GOP after claiming that Democrats in Georgia attempted to “sabotage” her efforts on her district’s behalf.
Mainor was especially passionate about school choice and community safety, standing four-square against efforts to defund the police, things that Democrats oppose.
Mainor’s defection gives Georgia Republicans a 102-78 edge in the state’s House of Representatives. Previously, in 2021, Vernon Jones, another black Democrat, left the Democratic Party after having endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2020. Mainor will be the first black Republican female to serve in the state’s House.
“My name is Rep. Mesha Mainor and today I made the decision to leave the Democrat Party,” Mainor announced on Twitter. “I represent a blue district in the city of Atlanta so this wasn’t a political decision for me. It was a MORAL one. I will NEVER apologize for being a black woman with a mind of my own.”
Mainor formally announced her decision at a news conference Tuesday.
“Today I stand here to say that I have decided to join the Republican Party of Georgia,” she said. “I supported children and family over the teachers union. I supported the Republican position not to defund the police.”
Georgia Democrats were aghast at the announcement, with U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, the chair of the state party, called it a “stinging betrayal.”
“House District 56 deserves a representative who will do the job they were elected to do, including fighting for high-quality public education. Georgia Democrats look forward to electing a strong Democrat next year in H.D. 56 who will serve the people, not personal political ambitions,” Williams said in a statement.
Other Democrats were even more harsh. ”This was an inevitable result of her narcissism, and many of us saw it coming. Good riddance,” said Democratic State Sen. Josh McLaurin.
On the other hand, GOP officials were quick to welcome Mainor into the Republican fold.
“We welcome Representative Mainor to our party and look forward to working with her on issues for the benefit of hardworking Georgians,” said the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp.
Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon, standing next to Mainor at the announcement, said that “What it reflects is a reality about where there is a political home for diversity of opinion is welcomed.”
Beyond her disagreements with the Democrats’ doctrine, Mainor claimed that Georgia Democrats “relentlessly tried to sabotage every single thing that I have done for District 56” and “publicly slandered me in every way imaginable.”
Mainor maintained that she didn’t really leave the Democrats, but, rather, it was the other way around.
“I didn’t leave the Democrat Party. The Democrat Party left ME when it embraced left-wing radicalism, lawlessness, and put the interests of illegal aliens over the interest of Americans,” Mainor tweeted. “I have nothing to apologize for.”
She encouraged other disaffected black Democrats to follow her lead: “I am encouraging more Black Americans and Black Democrats in particular – you might have this coat on, but I suggest you look at the lining. See what’s on the inside,” Mainor said.
When asked about potential backlash to her announcement, Mainor cut to the heart of the matter. “The most dangerous thing to the Democrat Party is a black person with a mind of their own.”
Mainor once worked with Democratic icon John Lewis. Her defection indicates a true shift in the way many in the African-American community now view politics.
For so long, Democrats have counted on support from blacks even as they did things that damaged that community, such as promulgating the welfare state and their new obsession with wokeism. Mainor leaving the Democratic plantation is illustrative of the fact that such suppositions are not as true as they used to be, and that Democrats may have to begin earning the support of the black community instead of simply taking it for granted.
