EXCLUSIVE: Georgia Democrat defector Mesha Mainor reveals her daughter, 17, is helping run her office as a new Republican after her entire team departed after her ‘spontaneous’ switch

Georgia State Representative Mesha Mainor says she has essentially single-handedly run her office since leaving the Democratic Party — and says the move to the Republican Party could have been better planned.

While the decision wasn’t spontaneous, Mainor tells DailyMail.com that she didn’t expect to have to build a whole new team once she made the switch from Democrat to Republican.

As a Democrat, she was used to running her office alone, but lawmakers now say she “needs help” given all the new challenges she faces because of the national attention her party change has received.

Mainor revealed that her daughter Chloe, 17, who just graduated high school, helps her run the logistics at the office — including answering emails and helping with her calendar.

She told DailyMail.com that her 17-year-old daughter, Chloe, helps with logistics, such as answering emails

Earlier this month, Mainor announced her decision to leave the Democratic Party and join the Republican Party as she continues to represent part of Atlanta in the George House of Representatives.

The decision, she explained, led to a wave of backlash from her former Democratic colleagues, as well as hateful, racism-filled messages from Democratic voters outside her district.

“It was spontaneous because of, maybe, logistics,” Mainor said of the decision to announce her move. “It was a build-up, but if I planned, you know, if I said to the world, ‘I’m switching,’ I would have had a team, because now we’re scrambling.”

While Georgia state legislators usually already work with skeleton crews, Mainor revealed that she has essentially no one working for her now that she’s moved from one party to another.

“State representatives in Georgia, we get paid $20,000 a year for a full-time job. The other thing is we have a $7,000 stipend to pay the staff for the whole year, any printing, any research. I mean, you have $7,000 to run an organization for 60,000 people,” Mainor explained.

She claimed that you need to raise money through your campaign to hire and pay real staff.

“It’s just been me,” Mainor told DailyMail.com in an interview this week. “You know, I’ve been a one-man ship, but very effective as a legislator with just me.”

Mainor has two daughters – her youngest is 11 and her eldest Chloe, 17, has just graduated from high school

Mainor said the change in Republican has not affected her family, even as she receives a bout of hate

“But now I definitely need help. And so we’re busy raising money right now so I can get some staff,” Mainor said before sharing that her 17-year-old daughter is helping to pick up some of the slack.

The hatred Mainor receives may be taken harshly by others, but Georgia’s legislator said she’s tough and claims she wasn’t fazed — and said her two daughters aren’t feeling the effects of the attacks either.

“My kids have no idea it’s happening,” Mainor said. “Teenagers don’t care, you know, they’re not on adult social media. You know, my daughter’s girlfriend might say that your mom is on my Twitter feed. But that’s it. It’s not like they talk about it at length.’

“My 11-year-old has no idea,” she joked. “You know, when I talk to her, I send her video clips. She says, “Okay, can we have a cheeseburger?” She doesn’t care.’

And when it comes to her constituents, Mainor says she’s received nothing but positive words from those in her community — and says she plans to win re-election for her seat with an R next to her name now instead of a D.

When asked why she decided not to take the half step of identifying as an independent rather than a Republican, Mainor explained the strategic decision.

“The way laws are made in Georgia is you need thousands and thousands of signatures to get on the ballot as an independent,” she said. “Once you’ve entered something, people have to remember exactly how to spell your name.”

“So it’s really not practical in Georgia [to run as independent].’