(The Center Square) – Switching parties by a deadline was the easy part. Fooling voters with a letter attached to a name on the ballot rather than actions?
A half-dozen former Democrats will need more than luck after failing one of the first tests for any stripe of politician: trust. Six people now registered Republicans running for the North Carolina House of Representatives were Democrats last summer, and their campaign stumps are a dead giveaway nothing else really changed.
Can they win?
“In a word, no,” Dr. Chris Cooper told TCS. He’s director of the Haire Institute for Public Policy Institute at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee and veteran politico of state politics.
“All of these Democrats are running as Republicans in strongly Republican districts,” he said. “Indeed, that’s likely why they’re making the switch – because, as unlikely as they are to win as a Republican, they’re even more unlikely to win as a Democrat.”
Absentee voting in a 51-day window started Monday. Super Tuesday is March 3.
It is a coordinated effort, replete with group photo for campaign purposes. Pamela Ayscue is trying to win House District 32, Michele Joyner-Dinwiddie HD35, Pamela Zanni HD81, Lisa Deaton Koperski HD89, Kelly VanHorn HD105 and Dr. Christopher Wilson HD117.
VanHorn’s campaign website lauds why the campaign: “restoring honor, truth and commitment.”
The deputy opinion editor’s piece in The Charlotte Observer from December before filing even ended is headlined, “Democrats are deceiving NC voters with party switches. Cut it out.” The author just happens to be unaffiliated with a perfect history of choosing Democratic primary ballots, too, according to the State Board of Elections website.
“The average North Carolinian, who doesn’t follow the inside baseball of party politics, will probably never notice that this is happening,” Dr. David McLennan told TCS. He’s director of the Meredith Poll and professor of political science at Meredith College in Raleigh. “The state and local Republican parties will undoubtedly try to make this a big issue and argue that the Democratic Party is playing tricks on voters, but given the nature of politics in 2026, this might seem relatively minor.”
To wit, a message from the North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Jason Simmons this week said, “As North Carolina continues to move toward Republicans, some disingenuous bad actors now want to play games in our primaries. We trust that on March 3 conservative voters across our state will select Republican candidates who will support the family first agenda that’s made our state the best place to live, work and retire.”
State law permits unaffiliated voters to choose either a Democrat or Republican primary ballot, though not both. Registered voters of those parties – or the Green and Libertarian parties – can only choose their respective party.
Ayscue on Saturday encouraged, via social media, voters registered as Democrats to change voter registration by Feb. 6, the state deadline, to unaffiliated. That way, they could vote for her. She doesn’t hide the policies and stands she represents aligned with Democrats rather than the Republican Party.
Joyner did the same on Monday.
Zanni’s social media presence on Facebook is newer. It sends the message of electing educators, a tie that binds all six, but as of midday Thursday was yet to encourage registration switches. Koperski’s personal Facebook page also does not encourage party switches, nor does her campaign website.
“Folks are recognizing the importance of primary elections, because the districts are so favorable to one party over the other, that the deciding election is in the primary,” Dr. Michael Bitzer told TCS. He’s director of the Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service at Catawba College in Salisbury.
“And to me,” he continued, “some of this is ‘power politics,’ meaning that folks recognize where the power lies in politics is within election that predetermines the November general election.”
House District 32, for Ayscue, is a run against former Rep. Frank Sossamon in the Republican primary. Both are Henderson residents. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Bryan Cohn chose family and his business over a second term, leaving Henderson’s Melissa Elliott and Oxford’s Curtis McRae in the Democratic primary.
Cohn flipped the seat in 2024, helping Democrats climb out from a 72-48 hole against Republican majority that couldn’t stop a veto override to within 71-49.
In the other five races, there are no other candidates and the primary winners move on to Jones Street in Raleigh.
House District 35, for Joyner, is a run against incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Schietzelt. Both are Wake Forest residents.
House District 81, for Zanni, is a run against incumbent Republican Rep. Larry Potts. Both are Lexington residents.
House District 89, for Koperski, is a run against incumbent Republican Rep. Mitchell Setzer. She’s from Maiden, he’s from Catawba.
House District 105, for VanHorn, is a run against incumbent Republican Rep. Tricia Cotham. Both are Charlotte residents.
And House District 117, for Wilson, is a run against incumbent Republican Rep. Jennifer Balkcom. Each is a Hendersonville resident.
Changing parties for political gain prior to an election isn’t new. Walter B. Jones Jr. lost a 1992 run for Congress in the 1st Congressional District as a Democrat, then ran two years later in a redrawn 3rd Congressional District as a Republican and won. He got at least 61% of the votes in each of his next five reelections, too.
Cooper notes Chris Anglin, changing from Democrat to Republican in 2018 three weeks before the filing deadline for state Supreme Court, was accused of taking votes from incumbent Justice Barbara Jackson. Democrat Anita Earls won the seat, and a liberal majority for the bench in the process; she’s up for reelection this year pressed against Republicans on the cusp of a 6-1 majority if state Rep. Sarah Stevens wins.
Deeper in history, McLennan notes, are former U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Jesse Helms. Neither, however, made the switch for a fake party label.
“They’re making a strategic choice, although one that has very little chance of succeeding,” Cooper said of Ayscue, Joyner, Zanni, Koperski, VanHorn and Wilson.
McLennan gives them a limited window.
“It all depends on the unaffiliated turnout for the primary election,” he says. “For example, in HD105, where Tricia Cotham is the incumbent, there could be a campaign by VanHorn’s campaign to really get unaffiliated voters out to defeat Cotham.”
Cotham was a Democrat when she won a seat in 2022 and changed parties the following April, citing Democratic Party bully tactics.
“That being said,” McLennan said, “it is unlikely any win. Primary elections are low turnout affairs with mainly strong partisans turning out. I suspect the actual Republicans in the race will campaign against the newly minted Republicans and drive the partisan vote against them.”
