Rodney Alexander UPDATE: Appeals Court OK's Congressman's Party Switch

Baton Rouge Advocate/WBRZ ^ | 8-30-04 | Brett Troxler

[Flux Capacitor]

ALEXANDER RE-ELECTION BID OK'D BY APPEALS COURT

By BRETT TROXLER
btroxler@wbrz.com 2theadvocate.com staff
From a report by WBRZ's Marvin McGraw

A state appeals court ruled Monday afternoon that U.S. Congressman Rodney Alexander could run for re-election as a Republican in the upcoming Nov. 2 election. The Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal also said no new candidates will be allowed to join the race against him.

Alexander originally filed to run for re-election in the 5th Congressional District as a Democrat on Aug. 4. Two days later he filed again as a Republican, just minutes before the deadline came to sign up for the race.

A lawsuit followed, and a last week a Plaquemine judge ruled qualifying for the election should be reopened. But other candidates already in the race disagreed with the decision.

"They want to reopen qualifying because they did not have a viable Democratic candidate," said Democrat Zelma Blakes. "But I am a viable Democratic candidate."

Blakes appealed the decision along with Republican candidate Jock Scott, seeking to not only keep qualifying closed, but to also have Alexander thrown off the ballot.

"A trick that was played by one of the candidates has led to this riddle," Scott said. "I do believe that the provision of law that says you cannot change party affiliation after you've qualified is the turning issue. That's the heart of the case"

Alexander also took the stage at the Republican National Convention in New York on Monday.

"Some say that I'm just a confused politician," he said during his speech. "Well I was confused, that's why I changed parties."I'm no longer confused."

The rulings made by the 1st Circuit could still be appealed to the State Supreme Court. No decision has been made yet.

[Flux Capacitor]

Huzzah! (for now)

-Dan

[L.N. Smithee]

Hi Flux! Nice to see a BTTF reference in a nick!

[Dog Gone]

Smells like victory!

[comebacknewt]

I really don't like the way he did this. If he were a RAT, we would all be outraged.

Obviously, I hope the GOP wins the seat, but I have very little respect for Alexander.

[Flux Capacitor]

----If he were a RAT, we would all be outraged.----

If he were a RAT, he'd have waited until after his re-election to switch.

-Dan

[cripplecreek]

Why? He didn't wait till after the election. And he did it without getting a court to change the law.

[George W. Bush]

"Some say that I'm just a confused politician," he said during his speech.

He's not confused. He's a professional politician and played his hand well.

If he were really savvy, he would have been the only Dim candidate and the only GOP candidate on the ballot. Both at the same time. A politician's dream come true.

As it was, he came as close as he could.

[HostileTerritory]

He waited until 15 minutes before the close of registration to announce his switch. The 'RATs thought they had an incumbent in the race, then they had 15 minutes before the deadline (with no forewarning) to learn they didn't and to get someone in to represent them other than the Blakes crank who was challenging their own guy already. I can't agree with that. It's disrespectful to the voters and he may as well have switched after the election for as much as the 'RATs had a chance to have a run in this election.

What Alexander did was wrong. It shows his Democrat upbringing. I hope a real Pubbie like Jock Scott whoops his sorry ass back to Louisiana. We don't need cr@p like Alexander in a safe GOP district like LA-5.

[HostileTerritory]

What do you know about Jock Scott? I don't see why we need to defend this guy.

[Flux Capacitor]

----The 'RATs thought they had an incumbent in the race, then they had 15 minutes before the deadline (with no forewarning) to learn they didn't and to get someone in to represent them other than the Blakes crank who was challenging their own guy already.----

Tough!

When the Democrats set up Louisiana's open-primary system, it was upon the high-minded ideal that it would render party affiliations irrelevant. Now that it's come back to bite them in the ass, they whine and scream and bitch and moan and I have no sympathy for them whatsoever.

What Alexander did was not illegal -- nor, if you're to take the open-primary setup at the face-value the Dems have been trumpeting for 30 years, was it unethical. I mean, hey, he's the same man who's been representing CD-5 in Congress for two years! What do you care if he switched parties, Dems? I thought party affiliation didn't matter here!

This is hardball politics EXACTLY the way the Dems play it, and when it's thrown back in their faces, they squeal like the stuck pigs they are. And I am grinning all the way through it.

-Dan

[Theodore R.]

Scott was a young Democrat state representative in the 1970s who supported GA Jimmy Carter. His father was the Nixon-appointed federal judge in Alexandria and a most liberal Republican. Scott switched to the GOP and ran for Congress.(I could have it wrong, he may have switched parties after losing a congressional bid in the special election to succeed the popular late Rep. Gillis William Long, D-LA.) Scott lost to Long's widow, former Rep. Cathy Long. I don't think Scott has been politically active in some time. His father died about two years ago.

[Theodore R.]

Scott will have virtually zero appeal in the rural parts of this district. It's hard to imagine Alexander being challenged by anyone now.

[HostileTerritory]

Thanks for the update. I figured Scott was a strong Republican because it's a Republican district and we were putting him up against the 'RAT... I appreciate the local input.

[OldFriend]

Well, I'll be. I guess they didn't like the comparison to New Jersey!!!

[OldFriend]

In case you haven't noticed, the dems are playing head shot. We cannot afford to play by the Marquess of Queensbury rules.

[HostileTerritory]

I know full well what the Dems are doing. I live in Massachusetts so I see more of it than I care to know about.

I stand by my assessment. What Alexander did was wrong and functionally no different from switching immediately after an election. It's not the Marquess of Queensbury rules, it's democracy.

Now we have to send $$$ of pork his way to keep him from switching back and to help "hold" a seat no real Republican would ever have a problem winning if it were open.

We had a bunch of good, real Republicans running in this district in 2002 when it was open. Alexander only got 27% of the vote in the first round. That 73% won't get a real shot to vote for a true conservative because of this guy's antics.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

I really don't like the way he did this. If he were a RAT, we would all be outraged.

Not so. There is another Democrat in the race for them to vote for. Any typical Republican would be a "viable candidate" compared to a liberal Republican who jumped ship to the Dims like Jumpin' Jim.

[fortheDeclaration]

Well, he has me confused!
So, he is running as a Republican-right?

[Flux Capacitor]

----So, he is running as a Republican-right?----

Yep. That's why the Dems are screaming bloody murder. See, it's okay for them to change the balance of power in the Senate by luring a Vermont senator across the aisle right after being elected to a six-year term, and to ignore the very letter of New Jersey's election law by substituting a strong candidate for a weak one, in order to illegally keep their Senate seat. But let a single congressman in Louisiana switch parties before an election because the Dems are a collection of extremist crooks, a perfectly legal move that will have no impact whatsoever on control of the House this year, and watch the excrement hit the fan!

For a while there was speculation that, were filing to be reopened, Alexander might be able to show up on the ballot twice, as he had qualified both as a Democrat and a Republican by the filing deadline. In effect, he'd be running against himself. That could have been fun.

-Dan

[fortheDeclaration]

Thanks. I agree totally with your assessment.
A Party that would put a Clinton, a Gore and now a Kerry up for President deserves no consideration or respect.