Steve Scalise From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Steve Scalise Steve Scalise.jpg House Majority Whip Incumbent Assumed office August 1, 2014 Leader Kevin McCarthy Preceded by Kevin McCarthy Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisianas 1st district Incumbent Assumed office May 3, 2008 Preceded by Bobby Jindal Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 9th district In office January 14, 2008 – May 6, 2008 Preceded by Ken Hollis Succeeded by Conrad Appel Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 82nd district In office 1996 – January 14, 2008 Preceded by Quentin Dastugue Succeeded by Cameron Henry Personal details Born October 6, 1965 (age 49) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. Political party Republican Spouse(s) Jennifer Letulle Children Madison Carol Harrison Joseph Alma mater Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge Religion Roman Catholicism Website House website Party website Stephen Joseph Steve Scalise (born October 6, 1965) is the current United States House of Representatives Majority Whip and representative for Louisianas 1st congressional district, serving since 2008. He is a member of the Republican Party[1][2] and the chairman of the 170-member conservative House Republican Study Committee.[3] Prior to his congressional tenure, Scalise served for four months in the Louisiana State Senate and twelve years in the Louisiana House of Representatives. On June 19, 2014, Scalise was elected by his Republican colleagues to serve as Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives. He assumed office on August 1. He is the first Louisianan in the Majority Whips position since Democrat Hale Boggs of Louisianas 2nd congressional district held the position from 1962 to 1971. Contents [hide] 1 Early life and education 2 Louisiana Legislature 3 U.S. House of Representatives 3.1 Committee assignments 3.2 Legislative history 3.3 Leadership race 4 Political campaigns 4.1 2008 special election 4.2 2008 4.3 2010 4.4 2012 5 Legislation 6 Personal life 7 References 8 External links Early life and education[edit] Scalise graduated from Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie in Jefferson Parish and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, with a major in computer programming and a minor in political science. Pierce, Charles (July 8, 2013). Home / Blogs / The Politics Blog The Politics Blog The Republicans New Debt Ceiling Menu. Esquire. Retrieved 8 December 2014. Louisiana Legislature[edit] Scalise was elected three times to the Louisiana House of Representatives: 1995, 1999, and 2003. Scalise initially succeeded fellow Republican Representative Quentin D. Dastugue, who made an ill-fated bid for governor in the 1995 primary. His legislative peers named him to the House Appropriations Committee as the representative of the First Congressional District. Scalise opposed the 2002 Stelly Plan, a proposal by Lake Charles Representative Vic Stelly, since repealed, to reduce certain state sales taxes on food for home consumption and utilities in exchange for higher state income taxes. Scalise was elected in the October 20, 2007, nonpartisan blanket primary to the District 9 seat in the Louisiana Senate. That position was vacated by the term-limited Ken Hollis of Metairie. Scalise received 19,154 votes (61 percent) in a three-way contest. Fellow Republican Polly Thomas polled 8,948 votes (29 percent). A Democrat, David Gereighty, polled 3,154 votes (10 percent) in the heavily Republican-oriented district. Scalise was succeeded in the state House by his aide, Cameron Henry of Metairie. In the special election on November 4, 2008 to fill the remaining three and one-half years in Scalises state Senate term, Conrad Appel defeated Polly Thomas, 21,853 (52.1 percent) to 20,065 (47.9 percent). Thomas had also lost the race for the seat in 2007 to Scalise.[4] U.S. House of Representatives[edit] On being asked by the New Orleans Times-Picayune to assign Democrat Barack Obama a letter grade for Obamas first 100 days as President, Scalise awarded the new president an L (for liberal).[5] Scalise encouraged residents throughout Southeast Louisiana to provide feedback about the Corps of Engineers Category 5 proposal, titled Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration (LACPR) report.[1][6] In a June 5, 2009 letter to the editor of The Times-Picayune, Anne Milling, founder of the Women of the Storm wrote, Kudos to Rep. Steve Scalise, who led his congressional colleagues here last week for a first-hand glimpse of Louisianas offshore oil and gas production and its critical importance to the nation.[7] Committee assignments[edit] Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Power Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Legislative history[edit] In 2011, Scalise became a co-sponsor of Bill H.R.3261 otherwise known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (withdrawn Jan 23, 2012).[8] As chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Scalise dismissed Derek Khanna, a committee staffer, in December 2012 because of pressure from content industry lobbyists after the study committee published a memo advocating copyright reform.[9] In 2013, Scalise voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act.[10] Leadership race[edit] In the aftermath of Rep. Eric Cantors unexpected defeat by David Brat on June 10, 2014, Scalise launched a campaign to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy in the position of Majority Whip of the House; McCarthy himself would replace Cantor as House Majority Leader. Scalises ascent to leadership built on his come-from-behind win in 2012 to become chairman of the Republican Study Committee.[11] Scalise subsequently won a three-way race for whip, winning on the first ballot despite the efforts of fellow candidates Peter Roskam and Marlin Stutzman.[12][13] He came under fire for using the assistance of a federal lobbyist, John Feehery, when hiring staff for the Majority Leaders Press Office. [14] Political campaigns[edit] 2008 special election[edit] Main article: Louisianas 1st congressional district special election, 2008 In 2004, Scalise announced that he would run for the U.S. House but thereafter deferred to the preference of party leaders and supported Jindal, who won the position vacated by the successful U.S. senatorial candidate, David Vitter. In 2007, when Jindal was elected to the governorship of Louisiana, Scalise announced his intentions to seek the seat yet again. This time he received Republican party backing. Scalises strongest Republican primary opponent, State Representative Timothy G. Tim Burns from Mandeville in St. Tammany Parish, accused Scalise of push polling, a practice in which a campaign contacts voters by telephone and asks probing questions which leave a negative impression of his opponent. Scalise defended his poll from criticism by Burns: We were running a public opinion survey this week conducted by the largest Republican polling firm in the country, Public Opinion Strategies. . . . conducted with a sample of 300 people, and it shows Scalise at 57 percent, Burns at 26 percent and undecided at 17 percent The margin of error is 5.6 percent. We ran a fact-based public opinion survey, not a push poll.[15] In the March 8, 2008, Republican primary, Scalise polled 16,799 votes (48 percent). He went on to win the runoff election on April 5 against Burns, who received 9,631 votes (28 percent) in the initial primary.[16][16][17] In the May 3 general election, Scalise received 33,867 votes (75.13 percent) to Democrat Gilda Reeds 10,142 ballots (22.5 percent). Two minor candidates polled the remaining 2.36 percent of the vote. Reed was a favorite of organized labor and the Democratic constituency groups. The First District has been Republican since 1977, when Bob Livingston won a special election.[18] Scalise was sworn in on May 7, 2008. 2008[edit] Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2008 § District 1 In the regularly scheduled election, Scalise was reelected over Democrat Jim Harlan, 66 percent to 34 percent. 2010[edit] Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2010 § District 1 Scalise defeated the Democratic nominee, Myron Katz, and an Independent, Arden Wells, in his 2010 bid for reelection. 2012[edit] In June 2009, Scalise joined Dan Kyle, the former legislative auditor and the treasurer of the Louisiana GOP, as directors of a national presidential fund-raising effort promoting Governor Jindal. According to Kyle, the group hoped to raise $60 million to persuade Jindal to seek the 2012 party nomination.[19] Others on the committee include former State Representative Woody Jenkins. Former Republican State Senator Tom Schedler of Slidell had his name removed from the group, not because he opposes Jindal but because such fund-raising activity could conflict with Schedlers role at the time as first assistant to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne.[19] In 2010, Schedler succeeded Dardenne as secretary of state. In his own 2012 congressional race, Scalise prevailed with 193,490 votes (66.6 percent) over four opponents, the strongest of which was the Democrat M. V. Vinny Mendoza, who finished with 61,979 votes (21.3 percent). A second Republican, Gary King, received 24,838 votes (8.6 percent). Independent Arden Wells ran again and received 4,285 votes (1.5 percent) in his second race against Scalise.[20] Legislation[edit] Scalise sponsored a bill called the FCC Consolidated Reporting Act. The bill makes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) consolidate several of their reports into one report. The bill is expected to help streamline the FCCs work and make the agency more efficient.[21] Personal life[edit] He is a member of the Seventh Ward Senior Center and the American Italian Renaissance Foundation. He is married to the former Jennifer Letulle (born 1975). The couple has two children, Madison Carol Scalise (born March 17, 2007), and Harrison Joseph Scalise (born May 8, 2009).[22]
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:36:27 +0000
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