Two of North Carolina's top GOP leaders encouraged Tricia Cotham to run for office last year, per The Times. Cotham, from a family with deep Democratic roots, flipped to the GOP three months into her new term. And then Cotham in April made a decision that immediately transformed North Carolina politics, as she switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP, giving the latter party supermajorities in both the state House and state Senate. What was previously unknown until now was that top North Carolina Republicans — namely House Speaker Tim Moore and House Majority Leader John Bell — had encouraged Cotham to run for the seat last year, according to The Times. Jonathan Coby, Cotham's former campaign consultant, told The Times that Cotham was irate over her political predicament.

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Persons: Tricia Cotham, Roy Cooper, Tricia Cotham mulled, Cotham, didn't, Tim Moore, John Bell —, Bell, Cooper, Jonathan Coby Organizations: GOP, Democratic Gov, Service, North Carolina House of Representatives, Democratic, New York Times, House Democratic, Democratic Party, North Carolina Republicans, The Times, Times, Republicans Locations: Carolina's, Wall, Silicon, Charlotte, North Carolina