Georgia state lawmaker switches to GOP, cites education, crime

A Georgia state lawmaker switched to the Republican Party on Tuesday, citing her disagreements with Democratic policies on education and public safety.

State Rep. Mesha Mainor, who represents a swath of Atlanta, is now the only Black Republican member of the Georgia Legislature and the first Black Republican woman to serve in the body, according to The Associated Press.

“I represent a blue district in the city of Atlanta so this wasn’t a political decision for me,” Mainor tweeted Tuesday. “It was a a MORAL one. I will NEVER apologize for being a black woman with a mind of my own.”

“I didn’t leave the Democrat Party,” she later added in another tweet. “The Democrat Party left ME when it embraced left-wing radicalism, lawlessness, and put the interests of illegal aliens over the interest of Americans. I have nothing to apologize for.”

Mainor specifically pointed to her former Democratic colleagues’ push to defund police, as well as their opposition to school vouchers. 

She broke with the party on both issues in recent legislative sessions, joining two other Democrats to support a GOP bill limiting the powers of counties to reduce police funding in 2021 and casting the lone Democratic vote for a school voucher program earlier this year, according to The New York Times.

“Right now, there are schools that only 3 percent of children are meeting proficiency. That’s not acceptable,” Mainor said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. “The option that the Democrats are giving is keep them there until we fix it. We’ll get it better soon. But it’s been like that for 50 years. That’s not acceptable.”