Party Switcher Loses AL Primary

Party switchers take note: U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith, the Alabama Democrat who turned Republican in an effort to stay alive in Alabama’s fifth Congressional district, lost in the primary Tuesday night to a county commissioner. Despite switching parties, Griffith’s race was eerily similar to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who lost in a bitter primary battle after changing his party affiliation: both candidates could not shake the image they still had ties to their old party. In the Democratic primary for governor in Alabama, U.S. Rep Artur Davis lost in his quest to be the state’s first black governor.