Rodney Alexander
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Rodney Alexander (born December 5 1946), American politician, has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 5th District of Louisiana (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/la05_109.gif)). He was born in Bienville, Louisiana, was educated at Louisiana Technical College, and was a insurance agent, businessman, and a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for 16 years before entering the House.
On August 6, 2004, Alexander decided to switch parties and run for reelection as a Republican. He had been elected in 2002 as a Democrat. Alexander filed as a Republican on the very last day of filing, with only minutes to go. This came two days after filing for reelection as a Democrat. On August 13, a Louisiana voter filed suit to disqualify Alexander, citing a section of Louisiana election code (http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=81594) that appeared to prohibit a candidate from changing his or her party affiliation after initially qualifying. On August 23, a state judge ordered filing reopened in Alexander's district, and required Alexander to refile if he wanted to run again. However, a week later, a state appeals court threw out that ruling, saying the lower court went too far. This decision all but assured Alexander's reelection, as the Democrats had no time to find a credible replacement candidate.
External link
- official website (http://www.house.gov/alexander/)
- Story on Alexander's Party Switch (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/08/06/politics1951EDT0408.DTL)