U.S. House of Representatives
Elections ;2008 On March 22, 2008 Griffith announced that he would run for the open seat in the 5th District. The district's 9-term incumbent, fellow Democrat
Bud Cramer, was not running for reelection. He won the June 2008 Democratic primary election with 90% of the vote, defeating physicist David Maker. Cramer had endorsed Griffith in the primary. Griffith faced
Republican Wayne Parker, an insurance agent from Huntsville, in the November election. Parker had sought this seat unsuccessfully twice before, in 1994 and 1996, losing both times to Bud Cramer. The 5th was considered one of the few realistic chances for a Republican pickup in what was forecast to be a very bleak year for Republicans because of the district's and state's recent voting history. While Democrats still held most local offices as well as most state legislative seats in the area, the district's residents had become increasingly willing to support Republicans at the national and state level. It last supported a Democrat for president in 1984, and
George W. Bush and
John McCain won the district by wide double-digit margins in 2000, 2004 and, ultimately, 2008. Due to these trends, most forecasters rated the district as a toss-up.
CQ Politics forecast the race as 'No Clear Favorite',
The Cook Political Report ranked it 'Democratic Toss-Up', and
The Rothenberg Political Report rated it 'Pure Toss-Up'. Griffith prevailed by taking 52 percent of the vote to Parker's 48 percent. He carried all but one of the district's seven counties. This came even as McCain (who carried the 5th with 61 percent of the vote) and Alabama Senator
Jeff Sessions (whose seat was up for re-election) won every county in the district. His victory, and that of
Bobby Bright in the 2nd District, gave Alabama two white Democratic congressmen for the first time since
Glen Browder and
Tom Bevill left the House in 1997. ;2010 Griffith ran for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 2010, but was defeated in the June 1 Republican primary by Madison County Commissioner
Mo Brooks. Brooks received 51% of the vote, narrowly avoiding a run-off. Griffith received 33%. Conservative activist Les Phillip received 16%. ;2012 In January 2012, he filed for a rematch against Brooks in the Republican primary. He said of the incumbent, "We'll contrast my time in Congress with my opponent's time in Congress. The distinction is clear, he has wandered away from many of the issues people want us to address." Brooks defeated him in the rematch 71%–29%, a landslide margin of 42 points. He won all five of the counties. ;2014 Supporters of Griffith circulated petitions to place him on the November ballot as an
Independent. Griffith considered running but decided against it.
Tenure Griffith has stated that he leans conservative on a variety of issues, though not all. He states he is a fiscal conservative who has called repeatedly for reducing the national debt. He is a strong supporter of
NASA and America's dominance in space. Griffith voted against the
Affordable Health Care for America Act, cap-and-trade legislation and the 2009 economic stimulus act.
Party switch Griffith was a member of the
Blue Dog Coalition, but on December 22, 2009, he announced he would become a Republican. He cited the health care bill as a major reason for his switch, and he had also clashed with the Democrats over fiscal and foreign policy. During his announcement, he stated: I believe our nation is at a crossroads and I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt. The GOP had been courting Griffith since August, when he publicly criticized the Democratic House leadership in the wake of raucous town hall meetings in his district, stating that he wouldn't vote for
Nancy Pelosi as Speaker as she is "divisive and polarizing". His switch is the first time a member of Congress switched from the majority party to the minority party since
New York Representative
Michael Forbes' switch from Republican to Democrat in 1999. Shortly after switching parties, Griffith joined the
Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservative House Republicans. Griffith's voting record veered sharply to the right after his switch. He'd garnered a 56 from the
American Conservative Union in 2009, but in 2010 garnered a 95. Upon Griffith's party switch, he became the first Republican to represent
Alabama's 5th district since
John Benton Callis, who was elected to a single term (1868-1870) during Reconstruction.
Committee assignments •
Committee on Energy and Commerce •
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet •
Subcommittee on Energy and Environment •
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Caucus memberships • Missile Defense (co-chair) • Modeling and Simulation • NASA House Action Committee ==2014 gubernatorial election==