Rep. Rodney Alexander (R) Elected 2002, 2d term
Born:	Dec. 5, 1946, Quitman
Home:	Quitman
Education:	attended LA Tech. U., 1965
Religion:	Baptist
Marital Status:	married (Nancy)
Elected  Office:	Jackson Parish Police Jury, 1972-87; President, 1980-87; LA House of Reps., 1988-2002.
Military Career:	Air Force Reserves, 1965-71.
Professional Career:	Insurance agent, 1990-93; contractor, 1993-present.
DC Office	316 CHOB20515, 202-225-8490; Fax: 202-225-5639; Web site: www.house.gov/alexander
State Offices	Alexandria, 318-445-0818; Monroe, 318-322-3500.
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Northeast Louisiana is perhaps the least known part of the state. Along the Mississippi River and the Red River and their dozens of tributaries, it was plantation country before the Civil War, with black majorities still in many parishes. Away from the larger rivers, it is hill country, places where small farmers scratched out a living on land connected to parish courthouses by dusty lanes. Such was Winn Parish, where Huey P. Long, the pivotal figure in modern Louisiana politics, was born in 1893, and from which he began his meteoric political career--elected governor in 1928, senator in 1930, a national figure threatening both parties when he was assassinated in 1935 in the new high-rise Capitol he built in Baton Rouge.

The 5th Congressional District of Louisiana contains much of this country, from the river parishes to the hills of Winn Parish. The biggest urban areas here, with about 50,000 people each, are Monroe in the north and Alexandria in the south. Alexandria in Rapides Parish sits at the northernmost extension of Cajun, Catholic Louisiana, and is majority black; despite the generally poor economic climate, Union Tank Car plans a new plant there. Monroe in Ouachita Parish is heavily WASP and Baptist, and is home to one of the world's leading Bible collections, assembled by an heir to an early Coca-Cola bottler. Redistricting added some Cajun areas in Allen and Evangeline Parishes and heavily black precincts in Pointe Coupee and Iberville Parishes, all Democratic areas. But George W. Bush increased his vote here from 57% in 2000 to 62% in 2004, his second-best showing in the state.

The congressman from the 5th District is Rodney Alexander, who was elected as a Democrat in December 2002 and switched to become a Republican in August 2004. Alexander graduated from Louisiana Tech and won election to the Jackson Parish police jury in 1972 at the age of 25. In 1988 he was elected to the state House, where he chaired the Health and Welfare Committee. He characterized himself as pro-guns, pro-life and pro-prayer. The 5th District seat opened in 2002 when Republican John Cooksey ran unsuccessfully for the Senate after serving three terms in the House. The primary turned out to be a regional contest. Alexander led with 29% of the vote, carrying three hill counties in his legislative district and five heavily black parishes along the Mississippi River. Republican Lee Fletcher, Cooksey's chief of staff for five years, was second with 25%, carrying Monroe's Ouachita Parish and three nearby parishes. Close behind, with 23%, was Republican Clyde Holloway, elected congressman by narrow margins in 1986, 1988 and 1990 from the old 8th District. Holloway, a tree farmer from Rapides Parish, carried seven parishes in the southern end of his district. After the primary, he was angry because he thought the House Republicans' campaign committee was steering contributors to Fletcher's campaign despite Holloway's prior service in the House; he called a press conference to denounce Fletcher as someone who "will do anything to win and he scares me." Alexander attacked Fletcher as a Washington insider and contrasted his "blue jeans" supporters with Fletcher's "blue blood" contributors. Alexander squeaked by with a 50.3%-49.7% victory, a margin of 974 votes. He carried two hill parishes, all the Mississippi River parishes and all but one of the parishes in the southern end of the district.

In the House, Alexander got seats on Agriculture and Armed Services, and had a voting record virtually in the center of the House. In November 2003, he showed independence from Democratic leaders when he voted for the Medicare/prescription drug bill. He voted to extend the tax cuts that Republicans enacted in 2001, and cosponsored legislation to prohibit desecration of the flag and bar gay marriages. Despite his occasional independence, Democratic leaders worked to keep Alexander happy and helped him to raise money for reelection. So they and many others were stunned when in the last hour before the election filing deadline Alexander switched parties. He explained his decision: "The Democratic Party has drifted to the left, and left us [conservative Democrats] in the open. I hate it….I was a Democrat who was ashamed of some of the things the Democratic Party stood for." Another factor, he explained, was the candidacy of Democratic Zelma Blakes, an African American and political neophyte who he feared would draw votes from him and would leave him vulnerable to attacks from both the left and the right. Democrats were outraged and called him a liar. "Rodney is a confused politician who has placed loyalty at the very bottom of his priorities," said Senator John Breaux. "I've seen some cowardly things in my career, but this is the worst," added Senator Mary Landrieu. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said that he had never seen such "an act of perfidy."

National Republicans, who were not enthusiastic when Fletcher expressed interest in running again and had failed to attract a strong challenger for the district, quickly embraced Alexander. He explained that he came close to switching parties earlier in 2004, but that he held off because "I didn't want anyone thinking I changed because I couldn't win as a Democrat." Louisiana Democrats filed suit to reopen the qualifying period, but the state appeals court rejected their case. After he switched, Alexander said he would return contributions from Democratic colleagues; in October, after they complained about the delay, Alexander repaid them. But this election turned out to be an afterthought for both parties in Louisiana, where there were two hotly contested open seat House races and a serious contest for the Senate seat Breaux was vacating. Alexander won 59% of the vote, to 25% for Blakes and 16% for former state representative Jock Scott, a Republican. He carried all parishes except for two riverfront parishes near Baton Rouge, where Blakes led.

Although Alexander and House Republican leaders insisted that they had made no deal before his switch, he got a seat in January 2005 on the Appropriations Committee and its Agriculture Subcommittee. House Democrats hoped to find a credible challenger here in 2006, but it may be uphill going in a 62% Bush district.

Committees

• Appropriations (37th of 37 R): Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA & Related Agencies; Science, State, Justice, Commerce & Related Agencies.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	40	25	75	27	50	24	70	48	24	76	--
2003	60	--	75	20	--	25	67	52	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	55%	--	45%		50%	--	50%
Social	53%	--	46%		44%	--	55%
Foreign	53%	--	47%		51%	--	48%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill Y 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 primary	Rodney Alexander (R)	141,495	59%	$1,344,520
	Zelma Blakes (D)	58,591	25%	$20,303
	Jock Scott (R)	37,971	16%	$149,557
2002 runoff	Rodney Alexander (D)	86,718	50%	$831,088
	Lee Fletcher (R)	85,744	50%
2002 primary	Rodney Alexander (D)	52,952	29%
	Lee Fletcher (R)	45,278	25%
	Clyde Holloway (R)	42,573	23%
	Robert Barham (R)	34,533	19%
	Other	9,321	5%

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 168,484 (62%) Kerry (D) 100,511 (37%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 143,628 (57%) Gore (D) 100,287 (40%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Fifth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R +10
• District Size: 14,225 square miles
• Population in 2000: 638,517; 52.9% urban; 47.1% rural
• Median Household Income: $27,453; 23.6% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 26.9% blue collar; 53.5% white collar; 19.5% gray collar; 12.0% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 63.4% White, 33.7% Black, 0.5% Asian, 0.4% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 0.6% Two+ races, 0.0% Other, 1.3% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 13.2% USA, 6.4% Irish, 5.6% French
• Click here for statewide demographic data.