Rodney Alexander
Rodney Alexander (born December 5 1946) is an American politician from the Republican Party. He has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing the 5th District of Louisiana.
He was born in Bienville, Louisiana, educated at Louisiana Technical College, and was an insurance agent, businessman, and a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for 16 years before entering the House.
Party-switching for the 2004 Election
Alexander had been elected in 2002 as a Democrat. However, he'd seriously considered switching parties soon after John Kerry won the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. He reportedly decided against it after a meeting with Senator John Breaux.
However, two days after filing for reelection as a Democrat, Alexander filed for reelection again as a Republican with only minutes to go before the filing deadline. The Republicans promised him a seat on the Appropriations Committee if he switched. David Vitter was running for Breaux' Senate seat, and the Republican leadership wanted to ensure that a Louisiana Republican remained on that powerful panel. The last-minute switch denied the Democrats time to find a credible replacement candidate, though Alexander had been heavily favored for a second term in any case.
On August 13, a Louisiana voter filed suit to disqualify Alexander, citing a section of Louisiana election code 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.
Alexander's voting record did not veer as sharply to the right as has been the case with other former Democrats who switched to the Republicans. For example, his American Conservative Union rating in 2004 was 50, only two points above that of his 2003 rating. However, he recently joined the ultraconservative Republican Study Committee.
He died on February 8,2006 of a airplane accident flying over the ocean and loosing control.