Royal Alexander
Encyclopedia
Richard Royal Alexander is an attorney from Shreveport
, Louisiana
. In 2007, he was the Republican
-endorsed candidate for Louisiana Attorney General
. A first-time candidate for public office, Alexander finished second to James D. "Buddy" Caldwell
, a Democrat
, in the nonpartisan blanket primary. Alexander outpolled incumbent
Democrat Charles Foti
of New Orleans
for the right to enter the general election
against Caldwell, a five-term (1979–2008) district attorney
from Tallulah
in northeast Louisiana.
Caldwell received 477,574 votes, Alexander 395,645 votes and Foti (previously the long-time sheriff of Orleans Parish) finished with 389,658. With only four weeks between the primary and the general election, the traditional Democratic political machine of Louisiana of sheriffs and district attorneys flocked to fellow Democrat Caldwell. Alexander was defeated in the second round of balloting when Foti's base supported Caldwell. In 2011, Caldwell switched his affiliation to the Republican Party.
Alexander's primary strength was demonstrated in Shreveport, Alexandria
, and Monroe
.
degree from Louisiana State University in Shreveport
. He obtained his law degree from Oklahoma City University School of Law
. He was a law clerk to Judge Rebecca F. Doherty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. An appointee of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Doherty was based in Lafayette
and Opelousas
. Himself a former administrative law judge, Alexander has also been in private practice, handling criminal and civil cases.
Alexander was chief of staff to Fifth District Republican U.S. Representative Rodney Alexander
of Jackson Parish. The two are unrelated. In 2006, the Democrats in Washington, D.C.
, accused Royal Alexander and several others including members of Congress, of having acted too slowly regarding the disclosure of the name of the congressional page who was sent inappropriate email messages by then U.S. Representative Mark Foley
of Florida
. (The page lived in Rodney Alexander's House district.) Evidence showed that Royal Alexander reported the inappropriate email messages to the staff of House leadership upon his learning of the information. No one, including Alexander, was punished, fined or sanctioned. The matter quickly died after the 2006 congressional election, in which Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress.
In 2006, Royal Alexander was accused of sexual harassment by Elizabeth Scott, a scheduler in Representative Alexander's office. Alexander maintained that Scott made her claims in retaliation for her having been demoted for incompetence as a scheduler. She once sent Representative Alexander to the wrong city for a major event. After Royal Alexander lost his race for attorney general, the case was dismissed.
Alexander is also a former staf member to former U.S. Representative Clyde C. Holloway
of Rapides Parish, the current public service commissioner and a predecessor in the same seat now held by Rodney Alexander.
According to KTBS-TV
, an independent survey of property tax
rates around the state by the demographer Elliot Stonecipher concludes that Shreveport and Caddo Parish residents pay the highest such taxes of any metropolitan area in Louisiana. Alexander said that the assessments are inflated and had pledged had he been elected to reduce them. Alexander also accused Henington of not informing senior citizens that they retain the option of freezing their property taxes once they reach the age of sixty-five.
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. In 2007, he was the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-endorsed candidate for Louisiana Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
. A first-time candidate for public office, Alexander finished second to James D. "Buddy" Caldwell
Buddy Caldwell
James David Caldwell, Sr., or Buddy Caldwell , is the Republican attorney general of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Prior to serving as attorney general, Caldwell was the district attorney for Madison, East Carroll, and Tensas parishes from 1979 to 2008...
, a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, in the nonpartisan blanket primary. Alexander outpolled incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Democrat Charles Foti
Charles Foti
Charles Carmen Foti, Jr. , is a former Democratic Attorney General of the U.S. state of Louisiana, United States. He served as his state's chief legal officer for a single term from 2004 to 2008....
of New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
for the right to enter the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
against Caldwell, a five-term (1979–2008) district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
from Tallulah
Tallulah, Louisiana
Tallulah is a city in and the parish seat of Madison Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 9,189 at the 2000 census...
in northeast Louisiana.
Caldwell received 477,574 votes, Alexander 395,645 votes and Foti (previously the long-time sheriff of Orleans Parish) finished with 389,658. With only four weeks between the primary and the general election, the traditional Democratic political machine of Louisiana of sheriffs and district attorneys flocked to fellow Democrat Caldwell. Alexander was defeated in the second round of balloting when Foti's base supported Caldwell. In 2011, Caldwell switched his affiliation to the Republican Party.
Alexander's primary strength was demonstrated in Shreveport, Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
, and Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
.
Education, career
Alexander received his Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Louisiana State University in Shreveport
Louisiana State University in Shreveport
Louisiana State University in Shreveport is a branch of the Louisiana State University System in Shreveport, Louisiana. Opened in 1967, LSUS is the only public four-year university in the Shreveport-Bossier metro area....
. He obtained his law degree from Oklahoma City University School of Law
Oklahoma City University School of Law
Oklahoma City University School of Law, also known as OCU Law, is one of the professional graduate schools of Oklahoma City University. OCU Law is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and was founded in 1907...
. He was a law clerk to Judge Rebecca F. Doherty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. An appointee of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Doherty was based in Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
and Opelousas
Opelousas, Louisiana
Opelousas is a city in and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies at the junction of Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190. The population was 22,860 at the 2000 census. Although the 2006 population estimate was 23,222, a 2004 annexation should put the city's...
. Himself a former administrative law judge, Alexander has also been in private practice, handling criminal and civil cases.
Alexander was chief of staff to Fifth District Republican U.S. Representative Rodney Alexander
Rodney Alexander
Rodney McKinnie Alexander is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district covers twenty-two parishes in roughly the northeast quadrant of the state...
of Jackson Parish. The two are unrelated. In 2006, the Democrats in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, accused Royal Alexander and several others including members of Congress, of having acted too slowly regarding the disclosure of the name of the congressional page who was sent inappropriate email messages by then U.S. Representative Mark Foley
Mark Foley
Mark Adam Foley is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republican Party....
of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. (The page lived in Rodney Alexander's House district.) Evidence showed that Royal Alexander reported the inappropriate email messages to the staff of House leadership upon his learning of the information. No one, including Alexander, was punished, fined or sanctioned. The matter quickly died after the 2006 congressional election, in which Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress.
In 2006, Royal Alexander was accused of sexual harassment by Elizabeth Scott, a scheduler in Representative Alexander's office. Alexander maintained that Scott made her claims in retaliation for her having been demoted for incompetence as a scheduler. She once sent Representative Alexander to the wrong city for a major event. After Royal Alexander lost his race for attorney general, the case was dismissed.
Alexander is also a former staf member to former U.S. Representative Clyde C. Holloway
Clyde C. Holloway
Clyde Cecil Holloway is an American small business owner from Forest Hill in the southern part of Rapides Parish who is one of five members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. He also served as a conservative Republican member of the U.S...
of Rapides Parish, the current public service commissioner and a predecessor in the same seat now held by Rodney Alexander.
Caddo Parish assessor candidacy
Alexander was the unsuccessful Republican candidate in the October 22, 2011, primary for Caddo Parish tax assessor. He polled 16,255 votes (34.9 percent), while the incumbent Democrat, Charles Russell Henington, Jr., received 30,310 votes (65.1 percent). Henington last faced opposition in 1999, when he won the assessor's position by defeating an earlier Republican candidate, John W. Wessler, by a five-to-one margin.Henington's late father, Charles Henington, Sr., and his step-grandfather, Albert Galloway Hammett, Sr. (1881-1974), previously served as the Caddo Parish assessor, having kept that office within the reach of one family for, through 2011, seventy-eight years. A. G. Hammet was the assessor from 1933 to 1964.According to KTBS-TV
KTBS-TV
KTBS-TV, virtual channel 3, is the ABC-affiliated television station in Shreveport, Louisiana. Its transmitter is located near Mooringsport. The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 28 and is owned locally by the Wray family as part of a duopoly with the CW affiliate KPXJ...
, an independent survey of property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
rates around the state by the demographer Elliot Stonecipher concludes that Shreveport and Caddo Parish residents pay the highest such taxes of any metropolitan area in Louisiana. Alexander said that the assessments are inflated and had pledged had he been elected to reduce them. Alexander also accused Henington of not informing senior citizens that they retain the option of freezing their property taxes once they reach the age of sixty-five.
External links
- http://www.royalalexander.org/about.php
- http://press.arrivenet.com/government/article.php/952572.html
- http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/779512/foley_scandal_began_and_ended_with_alexander/index.html?source=r_technology
- http://www.okcu.edu/law/