Georgia State Lawmaker Explains Why She Quit Democratic Party
State Rep. Mesha Mainor won election as a Democrat in 2020 to serve the people of Georgia’s General Assembly District 56. But a Republican will now represent the solidly blue Atlanta House district.
On Tuesday, Mainor made headlines when she announced she was leaving the Georgia Democratic Party “establishment” due to her support for school choice programs in the state.
“It doesn’t matter what part of my district that people are in, parents are asking for choices,” Mainor said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“Right now, there [are] schools that only 3% of children are meeting proficiency. That’s not acceptable,” Mainor says. “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.”
Mainor told Fox News Digital that upon standing up “on behalf of disadvantaged children in support of school choice, my Democrat colleagues didn’t stand by me. 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.”
In May, Mainor shared a video on Twitter saying she had found herself in the “crosshairs” of her Democratic colleagues because she voted in support of school choice programs in Georgia schools. The lawmaker promised nearly two months ago that she would “not back down” in her support of students and was, in fact, “just getting started.”
Mainor is joining the majority party in the Georgia House of Representatives, which now comprises 102 Republicans and 78 Democrats.
“For far too long, the Democrat Party has gotten away with using and abusing the black community,” Mainor told Fox. “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.”
