Conservative House Democrat Switching to GOP

(Dec. 22) -- Rep. Parker Griffith, a conservative Democratic Congressman from northern Alabama, will announce today that he is switching from the Democratic to the Republican party, Politics Daily has confirmed with senior Democratic aides. The news was first reported by Josh Kraushaar in Politico.

Griffith, who is in his first term in the House, has one of the most conservative voting records of any Democrat in Washington. He has voted against several of the Democrats' signature issues, including the $787 billion stimulus, the controversial "Cap and Trade" energy bill, and health care reform legislation. In August, he said he would not vote for Nancy Pelosi to be speaker again, telling the Hunstville Times, ""I would not vote for her. Someone that divisive and that polarizing cannot bring us together."