Rodney Alexander

Rodney Alexander
U.S. House, Louisiana, District 5
Incumbent
In office
January 3, 2003-Present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position	10
Party	Republican
Predecessor	John Cooksey (R)
Compensation
Base salary	$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	November 5, 2002
Next election	November 4, 2014
Campaign $	$7,036,750
Term limits	N/A
Prior offices
Louisiana State House of Representatives
1987-2002
Education
High school	Jonesboro-Hodge High School
Bachelor's	University of Louisiana-Monroe
Personal
Birthday	December 5, 1946
Place of birth	Quitman, LA
Profession	Insurance Agent
Net worth	$608,503
Religion	Baptist
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Rodney McKinnie Alexander (b. December 5, 1946) is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Louisiana's 5th congressional district. Alexander was first elected to the House as a Democrat in 2002, but switched to the Republican party three months prior to his 2004 re-election.

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Alexander is a "rank-and-file Republican".

Biography

Alexander was born in 1946 in Quitman, Louisiana, and attended high school in Jonesboro, Louisiana. He earned his B.A. from University of Louisiana-Monroe and worked as an insurance salesman prior to his political career.

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Alexander's political career:

• Louisiana State House of Representatives, 1987-2002
• U.S. House of Representatives, 5th Congressional District of Louisiana, 2003-Present

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Alexander serves on the following committees:

• Appropriations Committee
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education
  • Subcommittee on Legislative Branch (Chair)

2011-2012

Alexander served on the following House committees:

• Appropriations Committee
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
  • Subcommittee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Issues

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Rodney Alexander endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Alexander voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 85 Republicans that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.

Elections

2012

See also: Louisiana's 5th congressional district elections, 2012

Alexander ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Louisiana's 5th District. Alexander, the incumbent, defeated Clay Steven Grant (L) and Ron Caesar (I) in the November 6 blanket primary. Louisiana does not hold a primary before the November 6 general election. If candidates do not receive a majority of the vote on that date, they go to a runoff, to be held on December 8.

U.S. House, Louisiana District 5 General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rodney Alexander Incumbent	77.8%	202,536
	Libertarian	Ron Ceasar	14.4%	37,486
	None	Clay Steven Grant	7.8%	20,194
Total Votes				260,216
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Campaign themes

Alexander lists the following campaign themes on his official campaign website.

• Experience- "Rodney is a veteran public servant; having first been elected at the age of 25 to the Jackson Parish Police Jury and then serving for 16 years as a Louisiana State Representative where he was the chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee."

• Beliefs- "Rodney is pro-life and pro-2nd Amendment and serves as a conservative voice in Congress. He is committed to helping his colleagues on both sides of the aisle find a bipartisan consensus on critical issues ranging from health care to tax reform."

• Family- "Rodney has been married to the former Nancy Sutton for thirty-seven years. They have three children - Ginger, Rod, and Lisa - and four grandchildren. Rodney and Nancy live with their family in Quitman, Louisiana and attend Sweetwater Baptist Church."

Media

The following are two commentaries by Alexander on the Constitution and "our future." They are featured on his campaign website.

Rodney Alexander, "Rodney Alexander on the Constitution..."

Rodney Alexander, "Rodney Alexander on the Future..."

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Rodney Alexander, click [show] to expand the section.

2010 On November 2, 2010, Rodney Alexander won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Tom Gibbs, Jr. (I) in the general election. U.S. House, Louisiana District 5 General Election, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Rodney Alexander incumbent 78.6% 122,033      Independent Tom Gibbs, Jr. 21.4% 33,279 Total Votes 155,312 2008 Alexander ran unopposed to re-election in 2008. 2006 On November 7, 2006, Rodney Alexander won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Gloria Williams Hearn (D), Brent Sanders (L) and John Watts (I) in the general election. U.S. House, Louisiana District 5 General Election, 2006 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Rodney Alexander incumbent 68.3% 78,211      Democratic Gloria Williams Hearn 29% 33,233      Libertarian Brent Sanders 1.6% 1,876      Independent John Watts 1.1% 1,262 Total Votes 114,582 2004 On November 2, 2004, Rodney Alexander won re-election to the United States House. He defeated John W. "Jock" Scott (R) and Zelma "Tisa" Blakes (D) in the general election. U.S. House, Louisiana District 5 General Election, 2004 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Rodney Alexander incumbent 59.4% 141,495      Republican John W. "Jock" Scott 16% 37,971      Democratic Zelma "Tisa" Blakes 24.6% 58,591 Total Votes 238,057 2002 On November 5, 2002, Rodney Alexander won election to the United States House. He defeated Robert J. Barham (R), Lee Fletcher (R), Clyde C. Holloway (R), Sam Houston Melton, Jr. (D) and Vinson Mouser (I) in the general election. U.S. House, Louisiana District 5 General Election, 2002 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Rodney Alexander 37.3% 52,952      Republican Robert J. Barham 31.9% 45,278      Republican Lee Fletcher 24.3% 34,533      Republican Clyde C. Holloway 2.5% 3,581      Democratic Sam Houston Melton Jr. 3.2% 4,595      Independent Vinson Mouser 0.8% 1,145 Total Votes 142,084

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Alexander is available dating back to 2002. Based on available campaign finance records, Alexander raised a total of $7,036,750 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 7, 2013.

Rodney Alexander's Campaign Contribution History
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2012	U.S. House (Louisiana, District 5)		$1,375,551
2010	U.S. House (Louisiana, District 5)		$1,260,755
2008	U.S. House (Louisiana, District 5)		$911,236
2006	U.S. House (Louisiana, District 5)		$1,311,468
2004	U.S. House (Louisiana, District 5)		$1,355,844
2002	U.S. House (Louisiana, District 5)		$821,896
Grand Total Raised			$7,036,750

2012

Above is a breakdown of funds for the 2012 election, according to source.

Alexander won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012. During that election cycle, Alexander's campaign committee raised a total of $1,375,551 and spent $1,132,955.

U.S. House of Representatives, 2012 - Rodney Alexander Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$1,375,551
Total Spent	$1,132,955
Total Raised by Election Runner-up	No records available
Total Spent by Election Runner-up	No records available
Top contributors to Rodney Alexander's campaign committee
Geocent LLC	$17,000
Adams & Reese	$16,500
Northrop Grumman	$13,500
Livingston Group	$12,500
Central Management	$12,000
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Oil & Gas	$71,388
Health Professionals	$69,000
Crop Production & Basic Processing	$67,300
Lawyers/Law Firms	$63,883
Lobbyists	$54,979

2010

Breakdown of the source of Alexander's campaign funds before the 2010 election.

Alexander won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Alexander's campaign committee raised a total of $1,260,755 and spent $1,239,963.

U.S. House of Representatives, Louisiana's 5th Congressional District, 2010 - Rodney Alexander Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$1,260,755
Total Spent	$1,239,963
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$0
Total Spent by General Election Opponent	$0
Top contributors to Rodney Alexander's campaign committee
D&J Construction	$16,500
Adams & Reese	$16,124
Livingston Group	$15,350
Central Management	$13,000
New York Life Insurance	$10,500
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
General Contractors	$73,700
Oil & Gas	$70,746
Health Professionals	$63,250
Lawyers/Law Firms	$63,024
Crop Production & Basic Processing	$58,800

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Alexander missed 267 of 7,661 roll call votes from Jan 2003 to Mar 2013. This amounts to 3.5%, which is worse than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Alexander paid his congressional staff a total of $1,052,073 in 2011. He ranks 27th on the list of the highest paid Republican Representative Staff Salaries and he ranks 114th overall of the highest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Louisiana ranks 37th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Alexander's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $351,006 and $866,000. This averages to $608,503, which is a 30.72% increase since 2010. This is lower than the $7,859,232 average net worth for Republican representatives in 2011.

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Alexander's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $266,005 and $665,000. That averages to $465,502.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133.

Political Positions

National Journal vote ratings

Each year, National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted, as compared to other members, in the previous year. More information about the analysis process can be found on the vote ratings page.

2012

According to the data released in 2013, Alexander was ranked the 167th most conservative representative during 2012.

2011

According to the data released in 2012, Rodney Alexander was ranked the 168th most conservative representative during 2011.

Voting with party

November 2011

The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Rodney Alexander has voted with the Republican Party 92.7% of the time, which ranked 114 among the 242 House Republican members as of November 2011.

Personal

Alexander and his wife Nancy (nee Sutton) live in Quinton, LA. They have three children and seven grandchildren.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Rodney + Alexander + Louisiana + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Rodney Alexander News Feed

• La. delegates have mixed reactions to agency's data-mining practices - The Advocate
• Louisiana House members offer bill to delay flood insurance premium increases - NOLA.com
• Wiley Hilburn: Mary Landrieu is a profile in courage - Shreveport Times
• Ouachita Parish independent Tom Gibbs challenges Rodney Alexander - Alexandria Town Talk
• 7 people vying for Caddo Commission District 5 seat - KTBS
• Japanese school kids licking each other's eyeballs is a thing now - Daily Caller
• On the Hill: Tough fight ahead to delay flood insurance rate hikes - NOLA.com
• Around Washington for Monday, June 3, 2013 - The Advocate
• Congressmen try to change Obama's mind on Harbor Maintenance bill - The Advocate
• Poll: Most Louisianans support Medicaid expansion, but not Obamacare - Alexandria Town Talk

External links

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
  • Wikipedia
• Political profiles:
  • GovTrack
  • National Journal
  • OpenCongress
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Roll Call
  • CongressMerge
• Financial:
  • FEC
  • OpenSecrets.org
  • Follow The Money
  • LegiStorm.com
• Interest group ratings:
  • National Journal
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Voting record:
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Washington Post
• Media appearances:
  • C-SPAN
• Media coverage:
  • Washington Post

References

Political offices
Preceded by John Cooksey (R)	U.S. House of Representatives - Louisiana District 5 2003–present	Succeeded by -