Today, Representative Parker Griffith (AL-05) switched parties from Democrat to Republican (see the Politico:  House Dem blames leaders for party switch).  This takes the ratio of seats in the state back to 5-2 (Reps to Dems), where it had been for some time prior to the Democrats winning AL02 upon the retirement of Republican Terry Everett, taking the state to 4-3 for less than a year. 

My guess is that this is pure electoral politics, i.e., Griffith likely thinks that he has a better chance at re-election as a Republican.  Further, as Steve Benen right notes, Griffith has hardly been the model member of the Democratic caucus (i.e., he has voted heavily with the Reps).

The fifth district spans the northern counties of the state and includes the city of Huntsville.  Prior to Parker’s switch, the district had been solidly Democratic—dating back to 1897 (and really, since Reconstruction).  The previous holder of the seat, Bud Cramer, a conservative Democrat, held the seat from 1991-2009 (and, as James Joyner rightly notes, “There was virtually no such thing as a Republican in Alabama until the mid-1980s.  Bud Kramer held the seat from 1991 until this year, following Ronnie Flippo, who’d held the seat since 1977.  Let’s just say that neither of them was exactly a Nancy Pelosi Democrat.”  Indeed).  In 2006 Cramer won the seat unopposed and in 2004 won 73.1% to 26.9%, defeating Republicans Gerry Wallace.  With such an electoral history it is no shock that a Democrat won in 2008 (especially given the anti-GOP mood in that election).  However, it is worth noting that Griffith won a fairly close race (in historical terms for the district) in 2008, besting Wayne Parker 52%-48%.

As the Politico piece notes the district is more Red than Blue:

Though it has never elected a Republican to Congress, Griffith’s seat has a long conservative tradition and has backed Democrats who have a brand independent from the national party. As a result of the district’s Democratic heritage, Democrats still hold the majority of state legislative seats within the 5th Congressional District’s boundaries.

The district, however, is trending Republican: A wave of new residents is moving into the Huntsville suburbs, where the area’s burgeoning aerospace and defense industries have created a miniboom. And those voters, with fewer ties to the area’s past politics, have been reliably Republican at the national level.

The district gave John McCain a resounding 61 percent of the vote last year — a tick above the 60 percent President George W. Bush won in 2004.

Given the district’s history, Cramer’s success as a conservative Democrat, and the anti-GOP mood of 2008, it was no surprise that the route to control the seat at that time was as a Democrat.  However, given the long-term conservative nature of the district it is no shock that Griffith has been more in line with the GOP voting-wise and that electorally this was the right more for him.

The Republicans are also, no doubt, eyeing AL02 and conservative Democrat Bobby Bright, who ran the first time as friendly to Republicans (see here).  Indeed, without a doubt, I think that Bright made a conscious, strategic choice to run as  Democrat in 2008 because he knew that that nomination would be easier to get than the Republican one.  He had previously been the non-partisan mayor of Montgomery and it was clear that he could have run as either a Rep or a Dem in 2008. 

Source for map:  click.

Cross-posted from PoliBlog.