Texas Representative Will Switch to GOP

Interesting: Texas Rep. Hall to Switch to Republicans

Texas Rep. Ralph Hall, a conservative Democrat, intends to switch parties, GOP officials said Friday night.

"I wouldn't be uncomfortable in the Republican party," Hall said minutes before Ted Boyer, a Republican Party spokesman in Austin, said the veteran lawmaker was switching parties.

Republican sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hall had privately relayed word of his intentions earlier in the day.

Hall, 80, was first elected to the House in 1980.

His reported decision marked the latest fallout from a Republican-led attempt to redraw the Texas congressional district lines to their liking. GOP strategists estimate they can gain five or more seats through their efforts, which Democrats have challenged in court. The Justice Department has cleared the plan, saying it does not run afoul of civil rights laws.