Tricia Cotham files to return to North Carolina House

(The Center Square) – Tricia Cotham, the lawmaker who switched parties in April much to the chagrin of Democrats, has filed for reelection to the North Carolina House of Representatives.

The Charlotte Republican will be seeking to represent District 105. Democrat Vermanno Bowman filed for the seat on Monday.

Her move headlined the third day of the two-week filing period that ends a week from Friday. It also formally ended speculation, which she had squelched earlier, that she might try for a different office in this cycle rather than return to the chamber she helped solidify as three-fifths majority Republican.

North Carolinians will elect 14 members to the U.S. House of Representatives for two-year terms. The U.S. Senate seats are not on the ballot again until 2026 (Sen. Thom Tillis) and 2028 (Sen. Ted Budd).

All 170 seats in the General Assembly (two-year terms) will be on the ballot, as are the 10 Council of State offices (four-year terms). This includes the governor; lieutenant governor; attorney general; commissioners of agriculture and insurance; the secretaries of state and labor; auditor; treasurer; and superintendent of public instruction.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is in his second four-year term, the limit of consecutive terms allowed.

There will be at least six people in new positions within the Council of State. In addition to the governor, the lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and labor commissioner are either not running for reelection or are running for different offices.

The 2024 election primary is part of Super Tuesday on March 5, along with 12 other states. The general election is Nov. 5.

All filings are available to the public through the state Board of Elections website. The following are other notable filings for Wednesday:

• U.S. House District 1: Republican Laurie Buckhout. This is a district expected to be competitive, and now has two from the GOP for the primary; Sandy Smith filed Monday.

• U.S. House District 10: Republicans Diana Jimison and Pat Harrigan. This is the district where U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., would be if he had not chosen to retire from Congress.

• U.S. House District 12: Democrat Alma Adams, the incumbent.

• U.S. House District 13: Republicans Kenny Xu and Brad Knott. They join Josh McConkey, Chris Baker and Eric Stevenson in the primary.

• Insurance commissioner: Democrat Braxton Winston II and Republican Robert Brawley.

• Auditor: Republicans Charles Dingee and Jack Clark.

States that join North Carolina in holding primaries for both parties on Super Tuesday are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia. Iowa, which has the Republican caucus on Jan. 15, has the Democratic primary on March 5.