Jock Scott - Losing To Rodney Alexander, 2004

Losing To Rodney Alexander, 2004

In 2004, seventeen years after his last campaign, Scott announced that he would launch a Republican challenge to incumbent Democratic Congressman Rodney Alexander. Alexander had been a narrow winner – 974 votes out of 172,462 votes cast – in 2002 over the young businessman Dewey Lee Fletcher of Monroe. National Republican leaders at first agreed to support Scott.

Then, minutes before the filing deadline, and after he had already filed for reelection as a Democrat, Alexander switched parties. His action left the Democrats without a credible candidate in the race and undercut Scott's chances as well. Alexander in particular angered the state's two powerful Democratic U.S. senators, John Breaux (who had announced his retirement) and Mary Landrieu (reelected to a second and third terms in 2002 and 2008), because they had worked for Alexander in his race against Lee Fletcher. Many Louisiana Democrats called Alexander "cowardly" for his last-minute party switch.

Scott remained in the race as an unendorsed Republican, but GOP leaders, including then Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, coalesced quickly behind Alexander. The National Republican Congressional Committee demanded that Scott leave the race. Party leaders even denied him the right to speak at campaign events. He could not raise enough funds to counter Alexander's advantage of incumbency.

Scott said that the national leadership had "gone to elected officials who had endorsed me and gotten them to change their minds." Still, Scott said he was not unhappy with his party but could not appreciate the way they handled his race. "Sometimes even good organizations make faux pas. They're using their time, their talent, their money in a way that could be better used in a district where Republicans and Democrats are opposing each other... . I would assume that they have bigger fish to fry than little 'ol Jock Scott," he said.

Scott proposed that the north-south Interstate 49, which links Shreveport with Lafayette through Alexandria be completed, as originally planned, so that there would be a northeastern link as well from Monroe to Alexandria – now U.S. Highway 165. He vowed if elected to work for such highway funding.

Scott's hometown newspaper, the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, which in the 1960s and 1970s, under then managing editor Adras LaBorde (1912–1993) had pointedly refused to endorse candidates, editorially supported Scott's congressional bid. According to the Town Talk, Scott "offers relevant experience, deep knowledge of the issues and high energy. The Fifth Congressional District needs all of that. The district needs a representative who can leverage the significant economic development happening in and around Alexandria and Pineville while providing new thinking to help jump-start its lagging areas.

"Scott's ambitious proposal to build an interstate highway from Alexandria to Monroe is new thinking, for sure. Although the proposal is not practical at this time, it is aimed directly at one of the district's biggest problems: highways. It also shows an appetite for innovation, and that can help a district that is hungry to grow.

"Likewise, his desire to add his voice to national issues is refreshing. He strongly supports President George W. Bush's aggressive stance against terrorism, but laments that the war in Iraq has become so political. "Scott ... understands the complex challenges facing the district and the nation. That will serve him well as a member of Congress."

Not only did Scott obtain the newspaper's backing, but its former publisher Joe D. Smith, Jr., of Alexandria was a generous donor to Scott's campaign. Another who contributed to Scott was former Democratic State Senator B.G. Dyess of Rapides Parish.

Republican Scott ran third in the race with 37,971 votes (16 percent). His only strong showing was in Rapides Parish, where he polled 14,379 votes, but even there Alexander outpolled him with 23,958 ballots. Zelma "Tisa" Blakes, a black Democratic womanes, finished second in district balloting with 58,591 votes (25 percent). Alexander prevailed with 141,495 (59 percent). Alexander was presumably aided by his incumbency and the presence of the second President Bush, an easy winner in Louisiana, at the head of the Republican ticket.