Another One Percent-- The Democratic Legislators Who Have Joined ALEC

ALEC's Dan Boren has been subverting the House Democrats from within

There probably isn't a more serious institutional threat to democracy in America than the Koch-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

It's basically a right-wing Republican organization working diligently to take away the rights of ordinary working people to implement the one-percent agenda. But there are a few reactionary Democrats who have been involved as well-- maybe 1%. The only congressional Democrats with ALEC ties I could find are Joe Manchin (WV), Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Leonard Boswell (Blue Dog-IA), Ed Perlmutter (CO), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA), and Kurt Shrader (Blue Dog-OR). And there are no Democratic governors toiling along with Jan Brewer (AZ), Terry Branstad (IA), John Kasich (OH), Bob McDonnell (VA) and Scott Walker (WI) to implement the ALEC agenda. The only Democrats on the ALEC board of directors are state Senator Steve Faris (AR) and ex-Rep. Dolores Mertz (IA).

Most states don't have any Democrats from their state legislatures in ALEC. Basically they're Republican political clubs. Many states will have one or two Democrats in a toiletful of Republicans. Like Wyoming, for example. There are 24 state reps and 11 senators who are ALEC members. Only one, state Sen. John Hastert, is a Democrat. And then there are a few states-- Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas-- with a half dozen or more Democrats have joined up. Interestingly, one Kentucky state Rep. Robert Damron, was a member and then quit last year saying he no longer attends ALEC meetings because ALEC has “become, in the last few years, so partisan... The last meeting I went to, they spent all their time bashing Democrats. I don’t particularly care for an organization that’s so partisan.” On the other hand, Gov. Rick Perry (who's gotten between two and three million dollars from ALEC) was a member back when he was a Democratic state rep. And there's extreme right former state Sen. Mike Oliverio, who the DCCC has been trying to elect to Congress, who was not just a member of ALEC-- the only one in the West Virginia legislature-- but also West Virginia's state chairman!

The important thing is to keep track of these freaks and make sure they don't infect the Democratic Party and more than they already have-- and to make sure they don't climb into positions of power the way Joe Manchin and Kurt Schrader have. So... among the hundreds of Republicans in state legislatures with ALEC ties here's the handful of right-wing Democrats who have gone over to the Dark Side:

Rep. Richard Laird (AL)
Rep. Richard Miranda (AZ)
Rep. Barry Hyde (AR)
Rep. Terry W. Rice (AR)
Rep. Robert Moore (AR)
Sen. Barbara Horn (AR)
Sen. Jimmy Jeffress (AR)
Sen. Jerry Taylor (AR)
Rep. E. Bradford Bennett (DE)
Sen. Nan Orrock (GA)- hold back the hate here, this could be a mistake; I'm trying to verify
Rep. Mary Flowers (IL)
Rep. Brandon Phelps (IL)
Sen. Arthur Wilhelmi (IL)
Sen. Frank Mrvan, Jr. (IN)
Sen. Brian Quirk (IA)
Sen. Chris Steineger (KS)
Rep. Ruth Palumbo (KY)
Rep. Dorsey Ridley (KY)
Sen. Kathy Stein (KY)
Sen. Ray Jones, II (KY)
Sen. Julian Carroll (KY)
Sen. Joey Pendleton (KY)
Sen. Tim Shaughnessy (KY)
Sen. Walter Blevins, Jr (KY)
Sen. Gerald A. Neal (KY)
Sen. Denise Harper Angel (KY)
Rep. John Anders (LA)
Rep. Jeff Arnold (LA)
Rep. Elton Aubert (LA)
Rep. Damon Baldone (LA)
Rep. Jean Doerge (LA)
Rep. James Fannin (LA)
Rep. Girod Jackson (LA)
Rep. Harvey LeBas (LA)
Rep. Walter Leger, III (LA)
Rep. Christopher J. Roy, Jr. (LA)
Sen. Willie Mount (LA)
Sen. Ben Wayne Nevers, Sr. (LA)
Sen. Francis Thompson (LA)
Rep. Harriett Stanley (MA), the ALEC state chairman
Rep. Mike Colona (MO)
Rep. Kris Edward Roberts (NH)
Rep. Robert Theberge (NH)
Sen. George Munoz (NM)
Rep. Bill Brisson (NC)
Rep. Bill Owens (NC)
Sen. Donald Ray Vaughan (NC)
Rep. Michael Stinziano (OH)
Rep. Jabar Shumate (OK)
Rep. Harry Readhsaw (PA)
Rep. Nick Kotik (PA)
Sen. Jon Brien (RI)
Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (RI)
Sen. Paul Fogarty (RI)
Sen. Walter Felag (RI)
Rep. James Battle, Jr. (SC)
Rep. Ted Vick (SC)
Rep. Jimmy Bales (SC)
Sen. Kent Williams (SC)
Rep. David Shepard (TN)
Rep. Joseph Armstrong (TN)
Sen. Reginald Tate (TN)
Sen. Ophelia Ford (TN-- yes, not just a crook but the crooked aunt of notorious corporate whore Harold Ford, Jr.)
Rep. Tracy King (TX)
Rep. Ryan Guillen (TX)
Rep. Jose Menendez (TX)
Rep. Dawnna Dukes (TX)
Rep. Eric Johnson (TX)
Rep. Tracy King (TX)
Rep. Jennifer Seelig (UT)
Del. Johnny Joannou (VA)
Rep. Troy Kelley (WA)
Rep. Kevin Van De Wege (WA)
Sen. Brian Hatfield (WA)
Sen. John Hastert (WY)