A lawmaker in the West Virginia House of Delegates has switched allegiances from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, shrinking his former party’s presence in the state’s legislature.
Del. Elliott Pritt announced his party switch on Monday, bringing the balance of power in the House of Delegates to 89 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Pritt, who is in his first term, and won in a district previously held by a Republican, said he felt he needed to change parties “if I am to accurately represent my constituents and my people as well as my own conscience.”
“It has become more and more obvious that there is very little room in the party for traditional values or differences regarding political opinion-we are being pushed out,” Pritt wrote in a letter to Democratic House Minority Leader Doug Skaff and the dwindling Democratic Caucus in the House and posted on Facebook. “The values, beliefs, and way of life that the people of Southern West Virginia and Fayette County hold dear are no longer compatible with the trajectory of the Democratic Party.”…