Barbs Hurt Party-Switching La. Pol
By ADAM NOSSITER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A party-switching Louisiana congressman said Tuesday he's surprised and "hurt" by Democrats' reactions to his defection to the Republicans - and vowed to return nearly $90,000 given to him by members of his old party.
"I'm somewhat puzzled as to how much hoopla this has created," Rep. Rodney Alexander said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.
Alexander, whose last-minute switch to the GOP on Friday virtually assured it control of the 5th District seat, described himself as "pro-life, pro-guns and pro-business."
He said his Republican-leaning votes in Congress - on the Iraq war and on abortion, for example - had left him out in the cold in his own party.
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