U.S. House of Representatives Parker Griffith

1 u.s. house of representatives

1.1 elections
1.2 tenure
1.3 committee assignments
1.4 caucus memberships

u.s. house of representatives
elections

2008

on march 22, 2008 griffith announced run open seat in 5th district. district s 9-term incumbent, fellow democrat bud cramer, not running reelection. won june 2008 democratic primary election 90% of vote, defeating physicist david maker. cramer had endorsed griffith in primary.

griffith faced republican wayne parker, insurance agent huntsville, in november election. parker had sought seat unsuccessfully twice before, in 1994 , 1996, losing both times bud cramer.

the 5th considered 1 of few realistic chances republican pickup in forecast bleak year republicans because of district s , state s recent voting history. while democrats still held local offices state legislative seats in area, district s residents had become increasingly willing support republicans @ national , state level. last supported democrat president in 1984, , george w. bush , john mccain won district wide double-digit margins in 2000, 2004 and, ultimately, 2008.

due these trends, forecasters rated district toss-up. cq politics forecast race no clear favorite , cook political report ranked democratic toss-up , , rothenberg political report rated pure toss-up .

griffith prevailed taking 52 percent of vote parker s 48 percent. carried 1 of district s 7 counties. came mccain (who carried 5th 61 percent of vote) , alabama senator jeff sessions (whose seat re-election) won every county in district. victory, , of bobby bright in 2nd district, gave alabama 2 white democratic congressmen first time since glen browder , tom bevill left house in 1997.

2010

griffith ran re-election u.s. house of representatives republican in 2010, defeated in june 1 republican primary madison county commissioner mo brooks. brooks received 51% of vote, narrowly avoiding run-off. griffith received 33%. conservative activist les phillip received 16%.

2012

in january 2012, filed rematch against brooks in republican primary. said of incumbent, ll contrast time in congress opponent s time in congress. distinction clear, has wandered away many of issues people want address. brooks defeated him in rematch 71%–29%, landslide margin of 42 points. won 5 of counties. griffith did 4 points worse did in 2010 primary.

2014

supporters of griffith circulated petitions place him on november ballot independent. griffith considered running decided against it.

tenure

griffith has stated leans conservative on variety of issues, though not all. states fiscal conservative has called repeatedly reducing national debt. strong supporter of nasa , america s dominance in space.

griffith voted against affordable health care america act, cap-and-trade legislation , 2009 economic stimulus act.

party switch

griffith member of blue dog coalition, on december 22, 2009, announced become republican. cited health care bill major reason switch, , had clashed democrats on fiscal , foreign policy. during announcement, stated:

believe our nation @ crossroads , can no longer align myself party continues pursue legislation bad our country, hurts our economy, , drives further , further debt.

the gop had been courting griffith since august, when publicly criticized democratic house leadership in wake of raucous town hall meetings in district, stating wouldn t vote nancy pelosi speaker divisive , polarizing . opposes white house s decision cancel missile defense shield in europe, have contributed huntsville s defense industry. switch first time member of congress switched majority party minority party since new york representative michael forbes switch republican democrat in 1999. forbes lost primary campaign following switch. 5th 1 of few districts in former confederacy that, @ time, had not elected republican since reconstruction.

in january 2010, rebelling against party switch, griffith s congressional staff resigned en masse, including chief of staff, legislative director, press secretary, , intern. shortly after switching parties, griffith joined republican study committee, caucus of conservative house republicans.

griffith s voting record veered sharply right after switch. d garnered 56 american conservative union in 2009, in 2010 garnered 95.

upon griffith s party switch, became first republican serve in alabama s 5th district, since john benton callis (1868–1869).

committee assignments

committee on energy , commerce

subcommittee on communications, technology , internet
subcommittee on energy , environment
subcommittee on oversight , investigations



caucus memberships

army
cancer
doctors
down syndrome
hydro
immigration reform
missile defense (co-chair)
modeling , simulation
nasa house action committee
parkinsons
pediatric cancer
pro-life
robotics
rural
rural health care task force (co-chair)
small brewers




^ campbell, steve. griffith running cramer s seat huntsville times, april 10, 2008.
^ lowry, bob. bud cramer says endorsing parker griffith, huntsville times, april 10, 2008
^ osborne, matt (december 23, 2009). parker griffith s christmas present alabama democrats . huffington post. archived original on december 28, 2009. 
^ u.s. house, alabama – 2nd district archived may 14, 2008, @ wayback machine. cq politics
^ 2008 competitive house race chart archived july 2, 2008, @ wayback machine. cook political report, august 30, 2008
^ 2008 house ratings rothenberg political report, july 19, 2008
^ parker griffith says challenge mo brooks again congress | al.com . blog.al.com. january 12, 2012. retrieved november 1, 2013. 
^ al district 5 – r primary race – mar 13, 2012 . our campaigns. retrieved november 1, 2013. 
^ [1]
^ parker griffith challenge mo brooks independent candidate congress? | al.com . blog.al.com. retrieved november 1, 2013. 
^ steve doyle (february 4, 2014). party-switching former congressman parker griffith mulls run alabama governor (updated) . al.com. retrieved february 5, 2014. 
^ nasa versus deficit (december 19, 2009). nasa versus deficit . space politics. retrieved august 22, 2010. 
^ clerk of u.s. house of representatives website . clerk.house.gov. november 7, 2009. retrieved november 1, 2013. 
^ bluedog coalition . house.gov. april 27, 2009. archived original on june 15, 2010. retrieved august 22, 2010. 
^ democrat in house switches gop . boston globe. associated press. december 23, 2009. retrieved 23 december 2009. 
^ cite error: named reference politico invoked never defined (see page).
^ congressman parker griffith announces party change . wbrc. december 23, 2009. 
^ staff report (july 18, 1999). congressman forbes defects gop . associated press. amarillo globe-news. retrieved april 8, 2014. 
^ mark murray (january 4, 2010). of griffith s staff resigns . first read. msnbc.com. retrieved january 5, 2010. 
^ david weigel (january 4, 2010). parker griffith s staff exits stage left . washington independent. center independent media. retrieved january 5, 2010.