Via NOLA:
Louisiana state Sen. Elbert Guillory has switched political parties to become the first black Republican senator in the state since Reconstruction. The now-former Democrat from Opelousas made the announcement Friday in Baton Rouge at the @large conference, an event aimed at attracting black conservatives to the GOP.
“Is it a surprise, or is it the worst-kept secret in Louisiana? I am, as of this day, joining Frederick Douglass as a Republican,” Guillory said at the event, after accepting the group’s “Frederick Douglass” award.
This isn’t the first time Guillory has made the party switch — he became a Democrat in 2007 when he first ran for the state House of Representatives. However, his voting record remained staunchly conservative. Last year Guillory, who heads the Senate Retirement Committee, carried the bills containing Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed retirement overhaul, which was strongly opposed by Democrats.
On Friday, Guillory said he had come to disagree with the direction of the Louisiana Democratic Party, which he referred to as “the party of disappointment.” He expressed his opposition with the party’s stances on abortion, the Second Amendment, education and immigration.
“Today, the party of disappointment has moved away from the majority of Louisiana. They have moved away from the traditional values of most Americans,” he said. “Their policies have encouraged the high teen birth rates, high school drip out rates, high incarceration rates and very high unemployment rates.”