Last November, Inside Politics interviewed Mecklenburg State Rep. Carla Cunningham after she voted to help Republican lawmakers override HB10, a bill that expanded private school vouchers. It also required sheriffs to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally.
She had voted for the bill initially, and did again during the override, despite a pressure campaign from progressives to stick with the Democratic Party.
At the time, she did not sound like a lawmaker who was chastened.
“When you primary your moderate candidates, then it leaves a bad taste because the Democratic Party is supposed to be a big tent,” Cunningham said.
She said the party is OK with far-left Democrats.
“But when you get in the middle, then you have a problem,” she said.
The party’s 2024 disappointment with Cunningham was nothing like the furor directed at her this week.
On Tuesday, she cast the crucial vote to allow the GOP to override Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of HB 318, which requires further law enforcement to cooperate with ICE.
But it wasn’t just her vote. It was what she said.
“…First, as a people, it is time to recognize that it’s not just the numbers that matter. But also, where the immigrants come from and the culture they bring with them to another country. As a social scientists report, all cultures are not equal,” she said. “Some immigrants come and believe they can function in isolation, refusing to adapt. They have come to our country for many reasons, but I suggest they must assimilate.”
She continued:
“As a country, the United States has been more tolerant than most other countries. Other countries are making it much more difficult to get citizenship. We have been naïve. We have been exploited and abused by the different tactics to gain citizenship in America. It’s time to wake up.”
There was more:
“Global migration in the past was not projected to be as it is today. We must establish new rules to address a distinct type of migration that we are facing in our country, state and cities. It’s time to turn the conveyor belt off and adopt a global migration suitable for the times that were in…. In conclusion, let me share with you all what happened when a woman lawmaker like myself chooses to move differently. Yes, I was degraded for my vote. Yes, I was called racist for my vote. And yes, it was said I was trash.”
The Young Democrats of NC posted on social media that Cunningham’s remarks “were disgusting and a betrayal of the very communities she was elected to serve. To say ‘all cultures are not equal’ is completely disqualifying and has no place in our party.”
Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch, of Wake County, called Cunningham’s remarks “ridiculous” and “absolutely uncalled for,” according to the News & Observer.
Another Mecklenburg Democrat, Rep. Nasif Majeed, cast the critical veto on HB 805, which, among other things, creates rigid definitions of sex and gender in state law.
Majeed told reporters after the vote that, “I had some moral issues and I had to lean on my values.”
Wesley Harris, the chair of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party, said he’s disappointed with Cunningham and Majeed’s votes.
He said he’s received calls from across the state from Democrats who want the party to help a primary candidate against them. Harris said that’s not particularly helpful.
“I don’t get to pick who is a Democrat and who isn’t,” he said. “And any challenge has to come from their district.”
It’s highly unlikely Cunningham would ever switch parties and become a Republican, as former Democratic State Rep. Tricia Cotham did.
Cunningham represents House District 106 in northeast Mecklenburg. It stretches from Highland Creek to Huntersville. Only 13% of registered voters in 106 are Republican, so Cunningham’s political career would be torpedoed.
Angry Democrats will have to look to the Democratic primary.
But they may face an uphill battle.
Cunningham has held the seat since 2012. She is a Black woman, and Black voters made up 73% of Democratic primary voters in 2022.
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