Former Dem Congressman Switches to GOP

And an African-American to boot:

Former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis of Alabama is officially leaving the party for the GOP, he announced Tuesday.

"Wearing a Democratic label no longer matches what I know about my country and its possibilities,” Davis wrote on his website after lamenting that "this is not Bill Clinton’s Democratic Party."

The former congressman will switch his party registration and vote in Virginia, where he now lives.

Davis has been rumored as a possible GOP congressional candidate in Northern Virginia, and in the statement he doesn't rule out the possibility, although his long statement indicates if he runs it could be for either the House or the statehouse and would be in 2014 or afterwards.

The one-time Democratic rising star had grown critical of the party in recent years, was the only African American member of the House to vote against Democrats' health care reform law, and became increasingly vocal about his disagreements with the Democrats after losing a gubernatorial primary in 2010.

Welcome aboard, Mr. Davis. You can be a valuable voice for reason in this election cycle.