From The Dallas Morning News ...
Hall crosses aisle to join RepublicansLongtime GOP ally, 80, says constituents hurt by partisan squabbling
08:32 PM CST on Friday, January 2, 2004
AUSTIN – U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, the conservative Democrat who has represented the mushrooming corridor north of Dallas for 23 years, shocked many but surprised few by switching to the GOP on Friday.
For years, Mr. Hall – who at 80 is the oldest member of the House – has angered Democrats and been courted by Republicans because of his GOP-like voting record.
Mr. Hall said he decided to switch parties in filing for the March 9 primary because being a Democrat in the Republican-controlled Congress was beginning to hurt his constituents.
He said partisan rancor hit new highs during the last session, and GOP leaders denied his appropriations requests.
PARTY SWITCHERS
U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall of Rockwall becomes the 174th Texas Democrat to switch to the Republican Party since 1992. "I've always represented a Republican district, a conservative district," Mr. Hall said. "I've always said that if being a Democrat hurt my district, I would either resign or switch parties.
"I got right down to it and I wasn't ready to resign and decided to switch."
Few in Texas, including Republican Party leaders, were aware that the congressman would be making the move minutes before a candidate filing deadline.
GOP state leader Tina Benkiser said her party was proud to welcome Mr. Hall to its side of the aisle.
Bush ally
"As a Democrat, Ralph Hall has been one of President Bush's most reliable allies, and his strong support for the president's agenda will no doubt continue as a Republican," she said.
Charles Soechting, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, also was surprised by Mr. Hall's decision, saying he was not given advance word.
"I sure liked him for a lot of years," Mr. Soechting said.
Mr. Hall said that some of his constituents will be happy and others will be angry at his switch.
"It wasn't an easy decision. The party – the Democrats – have not been unkind to me," he said.
But he also said that he did not favor any of the Democratic contenders for president and that he had quit attending congressional party caucuses because the criticism of President Bush made him uncomfortable.
He said Mr. Bush had urged him repeatedly over the years to come to the Republican Party, and he called the White House on Friday about his decision.
U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay welcomed Mr. Hall to his party.
"Democrats are reaping what they've sown," Mr. DeLay said. "Their leaders have lined up behind Howard Dean's brand of angry, intolerant politics. ...
"Ralph Hall is a good man, has always been a good Democrat and will always be a great member of Congress."
Mr. Hall said the timing of his decision was based on the long wait for a court decision on redistricting. Like most of the Democratic congressional delegation, his district was redrawn by the GOP Legislature to better assure a Republican victory.
As the court decision on whether the redistricting effort was legal pushed against state filing deadlines, Mr. Hall said he was unsure whether he was running in his current district or the newly configured GOP district.
"It got to the point where I had to make an announcement," he said.
Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said Mr. Hall's move will have little effect in Congress.
"Ralph Hall has been a Republican in everything but name for more than a decade," Dr. Jillson said.
Republican map makers in the Legislature gave Mr. Hall more than 430,000 new constituents in their proposed redrawing of congressional boundaries. They removed Tyler and Longview from his 4th District and added Texarkana.
Depending on the judge's ruling on redistricting, Mr. Hall could face four Republican opponents in the March 9 primary: Steve Clark, Bob Collins, John Graves and Mike Murphy.
No clear signal
Dr. Jillson said Mr. Hall "hemmed and hawed," never giving legislative leaders a clear signal of his intentions.
"He sort of dared them to write his district out from under him, which they then went ahead and did," Dr. Jillson said.
Mr. Hall's name recognition is probably high, but it may not be sufficient to guarantee his election in the new district because new voters may consider him eccentric, Dr. Jillson said.
"He is not a man I think who engenders a great deal of confidence, particularly in people who don't know him well," the SMU professor said. "As an old shoe in his old district, with his name ID, people were going to return him.
"But as a little bit of an erratic actor in a new district where people don't know him, I think it is less certain that he will be re-elected."
In 2002, Mr. Hall won 58 percent of the vote in a district that went 70 percent with Mr. Bush.
Staff writers Wayne Slater and Robert T. Garrett contributed to this report.
E-mail choppe@dallasnews.com
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/010304dntexhall.6e55d.html
