Black Georgia Dem lawmaker switches to GOP, says Democrats 'use and abuse' black community

A Democratic Georgia state representative has defected to the Republicans. Mesha Mainor made the switch after being "crucified" by the party over her views regarding community safety and school choice.

The Georgia GOP welcomed the District 56 representative with open arms, while her now former colleagues seethed at the fact that she was putting her desire to help her constituents over party loyalty.



"Today I stand her to say that I have decided to join the Republican Party of Georgia," Mainor stated during a press conference on Tuesday, the Martin Luther King Jr Drive sign visible in the background.

Standing by her side, Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said her move "reflects the reality about where there is a political home where diversity of opinion is welcomed."

In a statement to Fox News, Mainor said her decision was "moral," not "political," explaining that she was fed up with Democratic policies not delivering for citizens.
 

"When I decided to stand up on behalf of disadvantaged children in support of school choice, my Democrat colleagues didn't stand by me," she lamented. "They crucified me. When I decided to stand up in support of safe communities and refused to support efforts to defund the police, they didn't back me. They abandoned me."

"For far too long," she continued, "the Democrat Party has gotten away with using and abusing the black community. For decades, the Democrat Party has received the support of more than 90 percent of the black community. And what do we have to show for it?"

She slammed Democrats for claiming to support the disadvantaged while pushing policies that do little to help.

"It's ironic," she said. "I hear 'Black Lives Matter.' But do they? I see every other minority being prioritized except Black children living in poverty that can't read."

She added that, "the most dangerous thing to the Democrat Party is a black person with a mind of their own."

Gov. Brian Kemp said on Twitter that he looked forward to working with Mainor, and shared a statement from the Georgia House Republicans echoing his sentiments.

State Democrats were unforgiving, calling her move a "stinging betrayal of her constituents" and vowing to replace her with someone who would toe the party line in the next election.