New York Times: Inside the Party Switch That Blew Up North Carolina Politics

07.31.2023 / By Kate Kelly and David Perlmutt
New York Times: Inside the Party Switch That Blew Up North Carolina Politics

Linda Meigs, a political activist from Charlotte, drove to Ms. Cotham's district this month for a meeting with local lawmakers hosted by Common Cause North Carolina and other liberal advocacy groups. Ms. Meigs said she had come prepared to confront Ms. Cotham over how she could have campaigned on ''Democratic Party values such as women's rights to reproductive freedom and L.G.B.T.Q. rights,'' only to reverse her support. Ms. Cotham was invited to speak, but didn't attend. ''When I'm talking to somebody and asking them a question, I usually like to look them in the face,'' Ms. Meigs told a crowded room at a Mint Hill church. ''I can't do that tonight.'' Instead, she pointed to a front-row chair. ''So,'' she said to cheers, ''I'm going to talk to this empty chair.''

Linda Meigs, a political activist from Charlotte, drove to Ms. Cotham’s district this month for a meeting with local lawmakers hosted by Common Cause North Carolina and other liberal advocacy groups.

Ms. Meigs said she had come prepared to confront Ms. Cotham over how she could have campaigned on ”Democratic Party values such as women’s rights to reproductive freedom and L.G.B.T.Q. rights,” only to reverse her support. Ms. Cotham was invited to speak, but didn’t attend.

”When I’m talking to somebody and asking them a question, I usually like to look them in the face,” Ms. Meigs told a crowded room at a Mint Hill church. ”I can’t do that tonight.”

Instead, she pointed to a front-row chair. ”So,” she said to cheers, ”I’m going to talk to this empty chair.”

 

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