Why It Matters: Her defection makes her the primary Black girl to function a Republican within the physique.

Ms. Mainor, 48, is the primary Black girl to carry workplace as a Republican in Georgia’s state home, based on Stewart Bragg, director of the Georgia House Republican caucus.

Her defection recalled the political estrangement of one other former Democratic lawmaker in Georgia: Vernon Jones, a Republican who was endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump in his unsuccessful run for Congress in 2022.

Background: She has a current historical past of siding with Republicans.

Ms. Mainor had crossed the aisle on a number of notable events earlier than she switched events altogether.

When Republicans tried to develop a college voucher program this 12 months, she cast the lone Democratic vote in support of the bill, which failed.

In 2021, Ms. Mainor was one in all three Democrats within the House who backed a G.O.P. invoice that curbed the powers of counties to scale back funding for the police. The measure was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican.

She additionally sided with Republicans this spring within the creation of a state oversight fee that has the power to investigate and remove local prosecutors.

At the news conference on Tuesday, Ms. Mainor mentioned Democrats not shared the values that had drawn her to the occasion.

“Members of the Democrat Party have publicly slandered me in every way imaginable,” she mentioned.

What’s Next: It could also be arduous for her to carry on to the seat.

Democrats disavowed Ms. Mainor on Tuesday as a rogue lawmaker and pledged to problem her subsequent 12 months.

“Good riddance,” Josh McLaurin, a state senator from Fulton County, wrote on Threads.

While Ms. Mainor gained a major in opposition to two different Democrats final June with 65 % of the vote, she didn’t face an opponent within the November election in 2020 and 2022.

It’s powerful sledding for Republicans in Fulton County, which Joseph R. Biden Jr. gained with 72.6 % of the vote within the 2020 election.