Steve Scalise
| Steve Scalise | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st district |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office May 3, 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Bobby Jindal |
| Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 9th district |
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| In office January 14, 2008 – May 6, 2008[1] |
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| Preceded by | Jesse Kendrick "Ken" Hollis |
| Succeeded by | Conrad Appel |
| Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 82nd district |
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| In office 1996 – January 14, 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Quentin Dastugue |
| Succeeded by | Cameron Henry |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 6, 1965 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Jennifer Letulle Scalise (born 1975) |
| Children | Madison Carol Scalise
Harrison Joseph Scalise |
| Residence | Jefferson, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge |
| Occupation | Systems analyst |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Website | Congressman Steve Scalise |
Stephen Joseph "Steve" Scalise (born October 6, 1965) is the U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 1st congressional district, serving since 2008. He is a member of the Republican Party.[2][3] He previously served in the Louisiana Senate and the Louisiana House of Representatives.
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[edit] Early life and education
Scalise graduated from the Catholic 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.
[edit] Louisiana Legislature
Scalise was elected three times to the Louisiana House of Representatives: 1995, 1999, and 2003. His legislative peers named him to the House Appropriations Committee as the representative of the First Congressional District. Scalise initially succeeded fellow Republican Representative Quentin D. Dastugue, who made an ill-fated bid for governor in the 1995 primary. Scalise opposed the 2002 Stelly Plan, a proposal by Lake Charles Representative Vic Stelly 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, combined 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. In the special election on November 4 to fill the remaining three and one-half years in Scalise's 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] Scalise was succeeded in his state legislative post by his aide, Cameron Henry of Metairie.
[edit] U.S. House of Representatives
On being asked by the Times-Picayune to assign Democrat Barack Obama a letter grade for Obama's 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 Times-Picayune Letter to the Editor, 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 Louisiana's offshore oil and gas production and its critical importance to the nation."[7]
[edit] Committee assignments
[edit] Legislative history
In 2011, Rep. Scalise became a co-sponsor of Bill H.R.3261 otherwise known as the Stop Online Piracy Act. [8]
[edit] Political campaigns
[edit] 2008 special election
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 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.
Scalise's 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."[9]
In the March 8 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.[10][10][11]
In the May 3 general election, Scalise received 33,867 votes (75.13 percent) to Democrat Gilda Reed's 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.[12]
Scalise was sworn in on May 7, 2008.
[edit] 2008
In the regularly scheduled election, Scalise was reelected over Democrat Jim Harlan, 66 percent to 34 percent.
[edit] 2010
Republican incumbent Steve Scalise is running for re-election, challenged by Democratic nominee Myron Katz and Independent Arden Wells.
[edit] 2012 presidential election
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 hopes to raise $60 million to persuade Jindal to seek the 2012 party nomination.[13] 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 Schedler's role as first assistant to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne.[13]
[edit] Personal life
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).
[edit] References
- ^ Times-Picayune: BRIEFING BOOK Tuesday, News and views from the Louisiana Capitol, May 06, 2008
- ^ CURRENT HOUSE FLOOR PROCEEDINGS LEGISLATIVE DAY OF MAY 7, 2008 110TH CONGRESS - SECOND SESSION
- ^ Office of the clerk, U.S. House of Representative: New To the Web site 5/7/2008
- ^ Louisiana Secretary of State, November 4, 2008, election results: http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcms3&rqsdta=110408
- ^ Jonathan Tilove, "Obama's first 100 days are graded on a curve" in Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 2009 April 29, Saint Tammany Edition, pp. A1, A6 (web version = Louisiana's congressional delegation grades President Obama's first 100 days from A to L.)
- ^ http://scalise.house.gov/hurricane.shtml
- ^ http://blog.nola.com/letterstotheeditor/2009/07/a_visit_to_louisiana_opens_eye.html
- ^ Bill H.R.3261; GovTrack.us;
- ^ Scalise defends integrity of GOP runoff survey- NOLA.com
- ^ a b Louisiana Secretary of State Unofficial Election Results Inquiry Results for Election Date: 4/05/08
- ^ nola.com ELECTIONS section
- ^ Louisiana Secretary of State-Multi-Parish Elections Inquiry
- ^ a b "Michelle Millhollon, "Official pulls out of Jindal group", June 16, 2009". Baton Rouge Morning Advocate. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/48123092.html. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
[edit] External links
- Congressman Steve Scalise official U.S. House site
- Steve Scalise official campaign site
- Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Congressional profile at GovTrack
- Congressional profile at OpenCongress
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
- Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
- Appearances on C-SPAN programs
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bobby Jindal |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st congressional district May 3, 2008 – present |
Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Jackie Speier D-California |
United States Representatives by seniority 297th |
Succeeded by Donna Edwards D-Maryland |
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- 1965 births
- Living people
- American people of Italian descent
- Archbishop Rummel High School alumni
- Louisiana Republicans
- Louisiana State Senators
- Louisiana State University alumni
- Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana
- People from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
