Longtime Democrat swaps sides for re-election - One of a growing number

The Houston Chronicle ^ | January 3, 2004 | JOHN WILLIAMS

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Republicans got a windfall from congressional redistricting well ahead of the 2004 general election, as veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall switched parties Friday to seek re-election in the north Texas district he has represented since 1980.

Hall's chances of re-election as a Democrat in the 4th District were diminished last year when the Texas Legislature pushed through a redistricting plan aimed at electing at least six more GOP members from Texas.

Hall, 80, a former Rockwall County judge who became one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, announced that he would become a Republican after talking with several party leaders, including President Bush and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land.

Hall told the Chronicle that his affiliation with the Democratic Party has hurt his efforts to get appropriations for his district.

Hall said he has toyed with the notion of switching parties for several years, largely because his district is majority Republican.

"I have been representing a district that is about 66 percent Republicans, and I have always said I would either switch parties or resign if being a Democrat hurt my district," Hall said. "This is the first time being a Democrat ever hurt me with my appropriations."

Hall's decision came as other Republicans were lining up to run for his district, which was altered under the redistricting plan Republicans pushed through the Texas Legislature last year.

DeLay welcomed Hall to the party, saying Democrats have reaped what they sowed by advocating "Howard Dean's brand of angry, intolerant politics" that sends the message that "moderates need not apply." Former Vermont Gov. Dean is a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"Ralph Hall is a good man, has always been a good Democrat and will always be a great member of Congress," DeLay said in a prepared statement. "He's welcome in President Bush's Republican Party. I look forward to working with him to serve the people of Texas."

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting reacted to Hall's switch with a terse, two-sentence statement: "I am disappointed. I will wait to hear Congressman Hall's reasons before commenting any further."

Hall said that his voting record has largely been supportive of Republican positions. Last year, he backed President Bush's tax cuts, authorization for force in Iraq, a ban on so-called partial-birth abortions and a ban on giving federal money to schools that prohibit the Boy Scouts from using their facilities because of the group's ban on gay members.

In prior sessions, Hall has gotten high marks from conservative groups like the Christian Coalition, which said he voted with them on 100 percent of issues, and low marks from liberal ones like the American Civil Liberties Union.

Friday, Hall said he has grown disenchanted with repeated attacks by Democrats on Bush.

"I would stand there and listen to it because I was a Democrat, but I didn't like it," Hall said.

Throughout last year's redistricting battle, Hall's seat presented a dilemma for both parties. Democrats fought to save him because of his party affiliation, and Republicans were loath to force him from office because they liked his voting record.

In one memo, Jim Ellis, DeLay's political operative in Austin, praised a redistricting plan similar to the one that passed, saying it gave Republicans "six (new districts) plus Hall."

On the surface, the new 4th District appears to be slightly less Republican than Hall's current district. The Republican voting percentage fell from 68 percent in the 2002 elections to 63 percent.

But the new map left Hall with only 34 percent of his current constituents. It added more than 100,000 residents in heavily Republican Collin County and nearly that many from heavily Democratic Bowie County.

As a Democrat, he was vulnerable to a Democratic primary challenge from the eastern portion of the district and to a Republican general election opponent. The new congressional district lines still face a court challenge from Democrats.

Rice University political science professor Bob Stein said the switch of Democrats like Hall is long overdue because most of the state has become Republican.

"Texans have never been as loyal to their party as their constituents," Stein said.

Hall's switch is indicative of problems facing Democrats in drawing moderate white voters.

"The more the Democrats court candidates like Howard Dean, the harder it is for them to be a centrist party," Stein said.

Hall said he expected to get help from national Republicans in his effort to keep his seat. "He (Bush) has told me he will help me any way that he can."

Texas Republican Party Chairman Tina Benkiser noted that scores of Democratic officeholders nationwide have switched to the GOP in the past decade.

Chronicle reporter R.G. Ratcliffe contributed to this story from Austin.

[Paleo Conservative]

Hall, 80, a former Rockwall County judge who became one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, announced that he would become a Republican after talking with several party leaders, including President Bush and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land.

At the age of 80, why doesn't he just retire?

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[FormerACLUmember]

The radical left cares only about seizing power in the rat party, purging in Stalinist style all centrists and moderates like this fine old gentleman. The socialist's fatal flaw is that a comfortable alternative home exists in the Republican Party.

[GeronL]

After 22 years of serving the Demons he needs to retire.

[DeFault User]

Hall sounds like a lot like what conservative Texas Democrats were in my youth. Their picture (with Stetson) appeared in the paper and they were "elected" in the Democrat primary. Now liberal Democrats and Texas Republicans have virtually driven the conservative Democrat into extinction.

A tip of the Stetson to Mr. Hall for finally seeing the light (and or the only way to keep his seat).

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zell Miller has made it clear, the Democratic Party is a national party no more. The Democratic Party now is comprised of radical groups; socialists propelled by hate and fear of diminishing power.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

After he secures this district for the GOP he can retire.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Dean's downers (David Limbaugh)*** Howard Dean says the Democrats' 2004 presidential aspirations are doomed if he doesn't get the nomination. Mr. Dean's Democratic opponents say the Democrats are doomed if Mr. Dean does get the nomination. I think they're both right.***

[MissAmericanPie]

I had thought him a RINO until another Freeper tipped me off and I checked out his voting record. You don't want him to retire with his record. In fact if he dies I vote we don't tell anyone and leave him propped up in his chair in the chamber. He's very conservative.

[GeronL]

)*** Howard Dean says the Democrats' 2004 presidential aspirations are doomed if he doesn't get the nomination. Mr. Dean's Democratic opponents say the Democrats are doomed if Mr. Dean does get the nomination. I think they're both right.***

Thats true.

[Penny]

<"Rice University political science professor Bob Stein said the switch of Democrats like Hall is long overdue because most of the state has become Republican.">

Stein's statement is the most underreported story of the last decade because the state's Democrat machinery does all it can to smother the truth. On a personal and professional level, I have witnessed a nearly indescribable transformation of hostility and bitterness in my primarily liberal (socialist) colleagues. As professors who once claimed the classrooms with their views, they find young minds not as easily bent toward those views. Where once they tolerated my conservative views (primarily because they knew I didn't discuss politics in the classroom), they no longer invite me to their little lunchtime socialist rantings. Whew! Their frustrations grow exponentially--and they have zero on the likeability scale . . .
Best to you . . . .Penny

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!