Another One: Fourth Democrat State Legislator Switches Party in a Month

Democrats have lost another state legislator to the Republican Party, the fourth since mid-March. 

Elliott Pritt, a freshman representative from West Virginia, announced Monday he would join the Republicans, saying he could “no longer continue supporting or advocating for issues that the vast majority of my constituents do not support.”

“There is very little room in the party for traditional values or differences regarding political opinion,” Pritt said in a letter to the state’s House Democratic Caucus. 

Pritt is the latest Democrat in a State House to switch his party affiliation in recent weeks. Last week, Louisiana representative Jeremey LaCombe left the Democratic Party, less than a month after another Louisiana lawmaker, Francis Thompson, joined Republicans after nearly 50 years as a Democrat, granting Republicans a supermajority in the legislature.

Thompson said the Democratic Party’s misalignment with the “values and principles that are part of my Christian life” was the motive for his change. 

North Carolina Republicans also won a supermajority this month, when Rep. Tricia Cotham switched her party affiliation. She said the Democrats had become “unrecognizable” and sought to “control” her. 

“The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions, and wants to get to work to better our state,” Cotham, who had served more than 10 years as a Democrat, said. “Not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after a workshop, but really work with individuals to get things done.”

West Virginia’s Republican Party chair said Pritt recognized what “so many West Virginians” have learned about Democrats. 

“Like so many West Virginians, Delegate Pritt has recognized that the Democratic Party of today is not the Democratic Party that our parents grew up with,” Elaine McArdle, the state Republican Party chair, said.

“The values, beliefs, and way of life that the people of Southern West Virginia and Fayette County hold dear are no longer compatible with the trajectory of the Democratic Party,” Pritt said.