Georgia lawmaker says she switched to GOP because Democrats' policies were harming communities

The Georgia state lawmaker who recently joined the GOP says state Democrats policies harming her constituents contributed to her switching parties.

"Not only were they not making a difference, they were literally sabotaging the community," state Rep. Mesha Mainor said Tuesday on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast.

She cited as one example a bill that puts $60 million into technical colleges and provides workforce development for urban and rural communities. 

"The Democrat Party was so against this bill, that they engaged the labor union, and the labor union then went on social media attacking me, because they said the $60 million needs to stay with the Department of Labor that has no workforce development programming," she said.

"Why do you not want to put $60 million into the hands of the people that are actually working with the people versus keeping the $60 million in a bureaucratic department?" Mainor asked. "That's just one example."

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the legislation, HB 1331, into law last year. It had a majority of Republican support and Kemp said it would strengthen the workforce. 

Mainor represents the Atlanta area and switched parties last month.

"Maybe I just align more with the Republican policies, because those are the policies that are actually positively impacting the community, and that's kind of how this all started," she said. 

Another example Mainor cited that she agreed with the GOP on is school choice.