Democrats thought she would ‘pull a Cotham.’ Now, former CMS candidate will speak at RNC

By Mary Ramsey 

A former Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board candidate who drew statewide attention over ties to the Republican Party will speak at next week’s Republican National Convention.

Annette Albright, who ran for the CMS board multiple times, is one of more than 20 “everyday Americans” scheduled to address the GOP in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the party nominates former President Donald Trump, according to an announcement from the Trump campaign.

The schedule describes Albright as “a lifelong Democrat” who “even ran for local office as a Democrat.”

“After seeing a decline in her community and realizing how Democrats have failed Black Americans, she will proudly be voting for President Donald J. Trump for the first time this year,” it says.

During her 2023 campaign for an at-large seat on the CMS board — a nonpartisan election — Albright and two other candidates were accused by a progressive group of having ties to the Republican Party of Mecklenburg County.

Carolina Forward claimed the party was “trying to ‘pull a Cotham’ again” — a reference to the state legislator who flipped parties from Democrat to Republican — by secretly supporting a “CMS Unity” ticket that included Albright. The MeckGOP denied those claims. A Charlotte Observer report found Albright was registered to vote as unaffiliated, but campaign finance filings showed all three candidates shared a P.O. box and treasurer with some Republican politicians and political action committees.

The Mecklenburg Democratic Party promoted three other candidates in the election. Albright finished sixth out of 14 candidates and didn’t win a seat.

DEMOCRAT SWITCHED TO UNAFFILIATED

After Friday’s announcement, Albright told the Observer she was a Democrat for decades before switching her party affiliation to unaffiliated in 2017 after she first ran for school board.

“I kind of saw that both sides play the same games, so I was kind of like, ‘I don’t know where I fit in,’” she said, adding she continued to vote Democratic for years.

But after the controversy during last year’s election, things changed. Albright said she faced death threats, racism and comments about her family online in the wake of her 2023 campaign.

“I just did not feel comfortable in Democrat spaces, because these were my own party members,” she said. “… I just cannot be a part of a party where I don’t feel respected, trusted or appreciated. I felt like they wanted me out.”

Albright continued to post on social media about politics after the elections, including her “frustrations with trying to work with the Democratic Party to make positive changes in the public school system.” She believes those posts are what brought her to the attention of the Trump campaign.

CMS SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE AT RNC

In Milwaukee, Albright plans to share her story and why she thinks Republicans have a better plan to improve education.

“I believe that the Trump administration will be more policy driven rather than trying to implement social programs into the school system that are not working,” she said.

Albright added her views on school discipline are “more conservative.” She sued CMS for wrongful termination after she was fired after a 2016 video circulated of her being attacked by students at Harding High School. The suit was settled in 2018.

Asked whether speaking at the Republican convention will affirm claims made against her during the 2023 election, Albright said she has “to go where I am respected and where I am appreciated and where I’m wanted.”

“I’m going to work with whoever works in the best interest of students and the best outcomes,” she said.

Albright isn’t the only person with North Carolina ties slated to speak at the convention.

A group of UNC-Chapel Hill fraternity brothers who held up the American flag during a pro-Palestinian campus protest will also address the convention, according to the lineup announced Friday. Video of the incident went viral, and the group received more than $500,000 in donations that were used to throw a Labor Day party, the News & Observer reported previously.

The Republican convention kicks off Monday.