As she announced she was switching to the Republican Party, Georgia state Rep. Mesha Mainor stated: "The most dangerous thing to the Democrat Party is a black person with a mind of their own."
Mainor said she made the switch after Democrats berated her for supporting a recent school choice bill.
"When I decided to stand up on behalf of disadvantaged children in support of school choice, my Democrat colleagues didn’t stand by me," Mainor told Fox News Digital. "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."
Mainor said she supports "school choice, parent rights and opportunities for children to thrive, especially those that are marginalized and tend to fail in school. The Democrats at the [Georgia State] Capitol took a hard position and demanded every Democrat vote against children and for the teachers union. I voted yes for parents and yes for children, not failing schools."
Mainor justified her position by noting that some schools in her district have 3% reading proficiency rates and that many kids cannot do simple math.
"I have a few colleagues upset with me to the point where they are giving away $1,000 checks to anyone that will run against me," Mainor said. "I'm not apologizing because my colleagues don't like how I vote."
Mainor has represented District 56 in the Georgia House since January 2021.
"For far too long, the Democrat Party has gotten away with using and abusing the black community," Mainor said. "For decades, the Democrat Party has received the support of more than 90% of the black community. And what do we have to show for it? I represent a solidly blue district in the city of Atlanta. This isn’t a political decision for me. It’s a moral one."
Mainor said that she has "been met with much encouragement" amid her decision to switch parties and noted that it's "humbling to be embraced – for the first time in a long time – by individuals who don’t find fault in a black woman having a mind of her own and be willing to buck the party line."
Mainor said that, after switching parties, her priorities will be to focus on education and expanding the Republican majority in the Georgia state House.
"Education and the importance of school choice has been – and will continue to be – a key focus of mine," she said. "But outside of education, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Georgia General Assembly to tackle the most pressing issues facing our state and to help grow the Republican Party, helping us focus not just on preaching to the choir but growing the congregation."
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