A longest-serving representative is leaving the Democratic party to join the Republicans after serving as a Democrat for nearly 5 decades.
On Friday, longtime Democrat Representative Francis Thompson made history after declaring his switch of parties from Democrat to Republican, giving the latter its first supermajority in both governing bodies.
Thompson, who had served Northeast Louisiana as a Democrat for 48 years reportedly changed his party registration to Republican on Friday which sparked another controversy under the Biden administration.
The 81-year-old was first elected in 1974. He then spent the next 32 years in the state House as a Democrat and served for 12 years, representing the same political party in the state Senate before he returned to the House for another four years. His recent decision has made him the 70th Republican member of the state House.
Following his decision, Thompson released an official statement, explaining that his new party affiliation won’t affect his voting record that has often been called “conservative.”
“My conservative voting record over my years in the Legislature speaks for itself,” the 81-year-old retired college professor argued.
“The push the past several years by Democratic leadership on both the national and state level to support certain issues does not align with those values and principles that are a part of my Christian life,” Thompson added.
Thompson was among the Republicans who called for a veto override session in 2021 over the bill that aimed to protect the rights of parents to be fully informed of the materials that their kids are being taught.
According to the report of Red State, “the vote on Senate Bill 156, two shy of the 70 needed, was a blow to Republican leaders, who called the first-ever veto override session with the goal of overriding the Democratic governor’s vetoes on the transgender bill and a permitless concealed carry gun bill, which failed to get enough votes for an override in the state Senate.”
“Senate President Page Cortez told his Senate members that overriding a governor’s veto was intentionally set high. The Senate voted to override the transgender sports bill, but the House did not. “That’s the process,” Cortez added as senators collected their belongings,” the report continued.
