VIDALIA &8212; State voters in Concordia Parish will choose between four candidates for District-5 United States Representative Tuesday.

The candidates are: the incumbent Republican Rodney Alexander, Democrat Gloria Williams Hearn, Libertarian Brent Sanders and Constitution Party member John Watts.

Rodney Alexander

According to his official Web site, Rodney Alexander, 60, lives in Quitman and has been married to the former Nancy Sutton for 37 years.

They have three children &8212; Ginger, Rod and Lisa &8212; and four grandchildren.

Alexander was first elected at the age of 25 to the Jackson Parish Police Jury and then served for 16 years as a Louisiana State Representative where he was the chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee.

To improve the economy, Alexander said he supports making President Bush&8217;s tax cuts permanent.

&8220;Because when people keep more of their own money, our economy and the country grow stronger,&8221; Alexander said.

&8220;Cutting taxes on small businesses allows them to invest and create jobs and opportunities for others.&8221;

As a member of the Appropriations Committee Alexander said that he is ideally positioned to help District-5 address its transportation needs.

Alexander said he would bring citizens&8217; concerns about Highways 84, 165 and 167 and Interstates 20 and 49 &8220;to the forefront&8221; of the legislative process on Capitol Hill, according to the Web site.

Alexander also said he believes in affordable healthcare.

He supports Health Savings Accounts, which allow people to save, tax free, to pay for medical expenses, according to his Web site.

Alexander said he believes that every child is entitled to a quality education.

Alexander supports increased federal funding for local schools.

He wants to use this money to reduce class size and increase the presence of technology in the classroom.

Alexander wants funding for training teachers in the use of technology. He also supports initiatives that will put more computers and Internet access in every classroom.

Alexander could not be reached for comments.

Gloria Williams Hearn

Gloria Williams Hearn, 72, lives in Pineville and is married to George Hearn, and has two children.

According to the project vote smart Web site, Hearn is Education Director at Beulah Baptist Church and co-owner of Hearn and Hearn Consulting.

Hearn said she would better District-5&8217;s economy by meeting with local leaders and business owners and see what they would like to have in their area.

Hearn said she favors improving Louisiana Highways like 65 and 84, but in order to get money to do so, she would encourage the United States to cut funding of the war in Iraq.

&8220;We&8217;re having to borrow money from other countries to operate this country and we need to come to some conclusion to get out of there,&8221; Hearn said. &8220;Those people (Iraqis) were fighting when we got there, while we have been there and will still be fighting when we are gone.&8221;

To improve healthcare, Hearn said she would work to negotiate better prices for prescription drugs with pharmaceutical companies.

Another way she plans to improve healthcare is by encouraging Congress to pass legislation to close up the U.S. borders.

&8220;Hospitals are having to close down because they can&8217;t keep up with the cost to treat all their patients,&8221; Hearn said. &8220;Now I&8217;m not against treating the illegal immigrants we have in the them (hospitals) now, but we need to plug up the borders so we don&8217;t have to treat any more.&8221;

A teacher for 13 years, Hearn said her first step in improving District-5&8217;s educational system would be to make sure mandates like No Child Left Behind were properly funded.

&8220;If Congress is going to have these mandates and require that schools meet the requirements, then they need to be funded adequately,&8221; Hearn said.

Hearn said she would also encourage funding more arts programs in schools, adjust teacher to pupil ratios and fund schools more money so that they can pay teachers higher wages.

Brent Sanders

Brent Sanders, 28, is a former network engineer for Turning Point Solutions in Pineville.

Libertarian Sanders said he believes that Louisiana&8217;s economy can only improve if the state would stop accepting grants and loans from the federal government.

&8220;I&8217;m not for handouts because that&8217;s where corruption comes in,&8221; Sanders said.

Sanders also said he would help to keep money in Louisiana by fighting to end direct state taxation by the federal government.

&8220;If people are allowed to keep their own money in the state then small businesses can flourish,&8221; he said. &8220;That is the lifeblood of rural areas like District-5.&8221;

Sanders said he believes money is available to fund projects like Louisiana 84 and 65; it is just a matter of finding out where the money went.

&8220;My first priority as representative would be to find out who is spending the money and hold those people accountable,&8221; Sanders said. &8220;I would then make sure the money is spent on those projects not people.&8221;

Sanders said charities are the solution to improving healthcare in the state &8212; not the federal government.

&8220;I don&8217;t believe it is the federal government&8217;s job to help with healthcare, so I don&8217;t support a national healthcare plan,&8221; Sanders said. &8220;What I would like to see is for churches, charities and non-profit, private organizations step up and take that role.&8221;

To improve education in the district, Sanders said a congressman cannot make public schools better from Washington D.C.

&8220;But what I can do is make sure the state gets money back from D.C. to fix the pubic system,&8221; Sanders said.

John Watts

John Watts, 56, lives in Bastrop with his wife and worked 36 years for International Paper Company.

He currently serves as financial secretary for United Steel Works.

Watts said he is discouraged by the lack of industry in District-5 and thinks any existing industry is failing.

Watts&8217; solution is to fight for support to quit sending jobs oversees and to end trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Watts said he was not familiar with the district&8217;s need for completion of U.S. 84 and 65 but would look into the highways if elected.

To improve education, Watts said the first step is to get the federal government out of other people&8217;s business.

&8220;It&8217;s not an enumerated right for the federal government to grant money for schools,&8221; Watts said. &8220;So it shouldn&8217;t be their job to choose what is taught in schools either.&8221;