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Some men ask a woman's parents for her hand in marriage. Jerry Meek had to check with her campaign manager as well.
Meek, North Carolina's Democratic Party chairman, has become engaged to Tricia
Cotham, a Democratic legislator from Charlotte.
Mee
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k, of
Fayetteville, got down on one knee when he popped the question Friday night at a cabin in
Bryson City. He planned the weekend get-away only after clearing the schedule with
Cotham's campaign manager.
Cotham, 29, is the state's youngest legislator. Meek, 37, is one of if not
the nation's youngest party chairman.
The two started dating last summer, a few months after
Cotham won a special election to fill the seat of disgraced Speaker Jim Black. Now she faces a primary on May 6 and, if she wins, a Republican challenge in November.
All that, plus the General Assembly's schedule, makes it hard to set a wedding date.
"So I have a little different things to think about than the average bride," she said this morning.
The romance, which the two kept secret for months, may explain his frequent recent appearances in Charlotte as much as his role in resolving the recent local party turmoil.
Cotham says she plans to continue living in her district, which covers east Charlotte and part of Matthews. She also has an apartment in Raleigh where Meek works as chairman.