Henry G. Herford, Jr., of Delhi, who was hospitalized following a scuffle with police during the Louisiana State Republican Convention in Shreveport in June of last year, filed papers on Tuesday, officially entering the race for the Fifth District congressional seat being vacated by Rodney Alexander of Quitman.

Herford is a recovering Republican of sorts, recently ditching that party in favor of the Libertarian label for the Oct. 19 primary because, he says, there is “not a dime’s difference” between the Democrats and Republicans.

It was just over a year ago that Herford was wrestled to the floor, dislocating his prosthetic hip in a skirmish with Shreveport police after Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere of Metairie refused to yield and ordered Herford removed from the convention floor immediately after Herford was elected convention chairman by Ron Paul supporters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZSferdzaOM

Following Herford’s hospitalization and arrest by police, delegates went on to elected a new chair and a slate of 27 Ron Paul supports to fill 12 of the 18 district delegate slots and 15 of 20 at-large delegate slots.

Herford has since filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court naming Shreveport police, the Louisiana Republican Party and others as defendants in what he terms a “wrongful arrest.”

In claiming that the two major political parties have lost touch with the electorate, Herford said, “I’m ‘us,’ and they’re ‘them.’”

He said the Libertarian Party supports freedom through less government. “You can’t throw money at every problem,” he said. “We spend more on our military budget than Russia and China combined.”

Many observers feel that Alexander’s announcement that he would step down, following in quick succession by a job offer by Gov. Bobby Jindal, the announcement by State Sen. Neil Riser that he would seek Alexander’s seat and the immediate endorsement by the state’s Republican congressional delegation was orchestrated by Jindal.

A possible giveaway of the scheme may have been inadvertently revealed when Alexander’s announcement said he had “agreed” to step down, an indication that there were old-style political back room negotiations leading up to his decision.

The offer by Jindal of a $130,000 a year job heading up the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs, which will bump Alexander’s state retirement from his days in the legislature from approximately $7,500 to about $82,000 per year did nothing to assuage the suspicions of smoke-filled rooms and political chicanery.