2nd Democrat Flips to Republican in Louisiana

A general view of the Louisiana State Capitol prior to a rally against Louisiana's stay-at-home order and economic shutdown in Baton Rouge, La., on April 17, 2020. Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Louisiana state Rep. Jeremy LaCombe is leaving the Democratic Party and will be registering as a Republican, according to reports, making him the second Democrat to do so in recent months.

LaCombe, an attorney and small business owner, has represented District 18—which spans parts of Iberville, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana parishes—since 2019, according to the official website of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

The Democrat confirmed his decision to leave the party and join Republicans to the Louisiana-based news outlet, The Advocate, on April 10 but stopped short of providing further details as to what prompted his decision, according to the publication.

While LaCombe has not released an official statement regarding his intent to switch parties, House Democratic Caucus Chair Sam Jenkins noted in a statement that LaCombe still embraces “the same values” as Democrats.

“House Democrats will continue to stand up for the working people of Louisiana,” he said. “We look forward to working with Rep. LaCombe during this legislative session to increase wages, lower costs, improve our schools, and pass insurance reform that benefits Louisiana families and small businesses.”

The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for LaCombe for comment.

Louisiana Rep. Francis Thompson Switches Parties

LaCombe’s switch to the GOP means that Democrats will now have just 32 members in the 105-member House, while Republicans will have 71.

LaCombe is the second Democrat in the state Legislature to switch parties this year after Rep. Francis Thompson joined the GOP in March.

Thompson, who had represented an area of northeast Louisiana as a Democrat for almost five decades, officially joined the GOP on March 17, giving Republicans in the state House a supermajority.

At the time, the 81-year-old lawmaker said his decision to join the GOP was “one that best represents my views and those of the constituents who elect me to serve them,” while pointing to his “conservative voting record” over the years in the Legislature.

“The push the past several years by Democratic leadership on both the national and state level to support certain issues does not align with those values and principles that are a part of my Christian life,” Thompson said in a press release at the time.

North Carolina Democrat Moves to GOP

LaCombe’s departure also makes him the third Democrat in the country to switch party affiliations after North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham, who won Mecklenburg district in the 2022 midterm election, joined the GOP earlier this month and handed the party a supermajority.

In a speech at a press conference announcing her decision, Cotham said the current Democratic Party is “unrecognizable.”

“The party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought, free judgment, has solutions, who wants to get to work to better our state, not just sit in a meeting and have a workshop after a workshop, but really work with individuals to get things done, because that’s what real public servants do,” Cotham said. “If you don’t do exactly what the Democrats want you to do, they will try to bully you; they will try to cast you aside.”

Republicans having a supermajority in both the Louisiana House and Senate gives them the power to override a veto by Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, if two-thirds of both chambers vote in favor of the legislation.

In a statement responding to Cotham’s decision, the North Carolina Democrat Party Chair Anderson Clayton and Mecklenburg County Democrat Party Chair Jane Whitley called it a “deceit of the highest order.”