BATON ROUGE — Upon hearing the news of Rep. Rodney Alexander’s retirement after six terms in the U.S. Congress, Louisiana Democratic Party Executive Director Stephen Handwerk issued the following statement:
“While we did not always share Rep. Alexander’s views, he was one of a very few Congressional Republicans willing to put aside partisan posturing in order to craft solutions for the American people. Rep. Alexander stated in his announcement that he was retiring ‘so that another may put forth ideas on how to break through the gridlock and bring about positive change for our country.’ We agree.
“Candidates rushing to the media to tease potential candidacies, state Senators Riser and Walsworth do not pass this basic test. Sen. Riser has long been one of Gov. Jindal’s most loyal foot-soldiers in the Senate. The most recent illustration of this was when he and Walsworth supported Jindal’s cruel and heartless vetoes of services for children with disabilities and victims of domestic violence.
“The Louisiana Democratic Party is already in conversations with Senators, Representatives and local mayors who have expressed great interest. Rest assured, this will be a competitive race.”
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