Bossier lawmaker St. Senator Robert Adley switches to Republican Party (Louisiana)

KTBS3.com ^ | 12/10/07

[LdSentinal]

Louisiana state Sen. Robert Adley of Bossier Parish has switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party.

Adley's move comes a month before the state's new Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, takes office. Adley called himself a conservative reformer with the same philosophy as Jindal.

In discussing the party switch, the longtime Democrat Adley said he wants to be as effective as possible in dealing with the new governor.

"I have worked with a number of reform governors and spent years trying to get reform in Louisiana," Adley said during his announcement at the Bossier City Municipal Complex. "We've gotten close; we've never gotten there. I really believe this administration has that chance and I want to participate in that."

With Adley, Republicans now have 16 members in the Senate. Democrats have 23.

Adley is about to begin his second term in the Senate. He was a member of the state House of Representatives from 1979-95.

[Hardastarboard]

This will be front page NYT news tomorrow. /sarc

[Clintonfatigued]

This helps, as the GOP was unable to take the state Senate this year.

[SeafoodGumbo]

If that's a LA ping list you've got, would you mind adding me?

Thanks. :)

[fieldmarshaldj]

Now that there is an incoming GOP Speaker on the House side, I wonder if that will precipitate a number of defections over there ? Regardless, even with Adley’s switch, they’re pretty much locked into the leadership for the next 4 years. Only once in recent memory have they sacked a Senate President before his term was up (when Allen Bares was dumped for Sammy Nunez in 1990). From what I understand, the incoming President is a liberal.

[hoosierham]

I harte to say it, but switching parties after the election where you used the party's money and volunteers smacks of dishonesty.

A really honorable,but riskier act would have been to announce the switch before the primaries;or , stay in the party that helped elect you and fight tooth and nail for changes to your liking.

[Clintonfatigued]

Actually, I don’t. It’s possible that Galactic Overlord In Chief does.

[fieldmarshaldj]

You’d have a point there, but LA has a different setup where everybody competes in a gigantic jungle primary (so no specific party primaries and party affiliation isn’t as important). It’s not unusual in runoffs for people of the same party to end up facing off.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

The first of many to switch.We saw the same occurance in Georgia with conservative democrats became republicans.This includes our current governor Sonny Perdue.

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

From what I understand, the incoming President is a liberal.

Chaisson, yeah, I don't know very much about him. He represents St. Charles Parish and some of St. John Parish. It's very mixed, with Desterhan being upscale suburbia, Laplace a fast growing exurb, and smaller middle class areas like Norco. Some refineries, swamps, small towns, etc. I go out there when I go to work. I would guess that Jindal carried that area. So Chaisson shouldn't get too far afield, unless he and the Dems feel confident they can get one over on Bobby.

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

Sorry, I don’t have a ping list either.

[fieldmarshaldj]

We shall see who stands in the way of Jindal’s reformist agenda.