Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell is now no longer the only Democratic state attorney general in the country to have joined the lawsuit against health care reform — he has now officially switched parties to the Republicans.
Caldwell was first elected as a Democrat in 2007, after serving as a district attorney, defeating unpopular Democratic incumbent Charles Foti and Republican candidate Royal Alexander. Now, as Louisiana has another state-level election year, he announced today that he is switching to the Republicans.
Caldwell’s move now leaves Sen. Mary Landrieu as the only statewide elected Democrat, in a state where Republicans have made significant gains over the past decade.
In his statement, courtesy of Bayou Buzz, Caldwell acknowledged that health care had been among the issues leading to his decision, noting that he has found himself taking legal positions on big issues that were contrary to the positions of the Democratic Party:
An example of this is the federal health care bill. The Democratic Party has, in large measure, supported this legislation. However, after careful review, I concluded that this law, hastily passed by Congress, was fatally flawed legally, and in my view hurt the very people it was intended to help. I felt the people deserved and needed to have these issues resolved quickly. For this reason, I joined other Attorneys General around the country in filing a suit to resolve the defects of this legislation. In making my decision to join this suit I gave no weight to politics. I simply joined what I believe to be a correct legal fight for Louisiana. That’s my job. Only later, after filing, was it pointed out to me that I was the only Democratic Attorney General to fight this law.
