http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...ryID=406748 5
'WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Veteran Democratic Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas said on Friday he had switched parties to become a Republican after being denied funds for his district for the first time.
In a move that widens the Republicans' majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, Hall said the chairman of the Appropriations Committee had "zeroed out" his district simply because he was a Democrat.
"This is the first time, I've just been zeroed out," he said in a telephone interview. "I've always said that if being a Democrat hurt my district, I'd either resign, retire or switch parties."