In House District 105, the now Republican Tricia Cotham has won out over her Democratic opponent Nicole Sidman, all after Sidman had requested a recount for the Mecklenburg County seat for her race when the results came under a 1% margin.
In her first reelection since switching parties from Democratic to Republican, Cotham finished over Sidman by a final count of 213 votes. In the initial count, Cotham was seen to have the difference of 216 votes, putting her then total of 27,303 votes over Sidman’s 27,087.
Sidman had released a statement on her campaign’s Facebook page saying she had requested a recount. “The recount process is designed to maintain faith in our democratic system of government,” the post read. “And with a margin of four-tenths of a percentage point, the residents of Matthews, Mint Hill, and Charlotte deserve to have their faith in our democratic process confirmed.”Previously, Cotham represented the Democratic ticket. However, on April 5, 2023, three months after starting her District 112 term, she announced she was leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a Republican, giving the Republican party a super-majority in the North Carolina chamber. Seven months after that, on Nov. 18, 2023, Cotham announced she would run in the new District 105.
Her old seat, 112, was won in the 2024 election by the Democratic Party’s Jordan Lopez, who will be assuming the seat on January 1, 2025.
Most of the state’s 100 counties began recounts on Nov. 20, with many also coming in under a one percent margin. All recounts were to be completed no later than Nov. 27, as per the N.C. State Board of Elections.
“Recounts are a regular part of the elections process when contests are close, and they help ensure that the results are accurate and that the public can have confidence that the candidate who received the most votes wins the election,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said in a statement. “Recounts are conducted by bipartisan teams and are open to the public whenever and wherever they occur.”