Steve Scalise

Infobox_Congressman


imagesize=170px
name= Stephen Joseph "Steve" Scalise
caption= Congressman Steve Scalise
state = Louisiana
district = 1^st
term_start= May 7, 2008
term_end=
preceded= Bobby Jindal
succeeded= Incumbent
office2= Louisiana State Senate District 9 (Jefferson Parish)
term_start2=January 14, 2008
term_end2= May 6, 2008 [http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1210051311253650.xml&coll=1 Times-Picayune: BRIEFING BOOK Tuesday, News and views from the Louisiana Capitol, May 06, 2008] ]
preceded2=Jesse Kendrick "Ken" Hollis
succeeded2= TBD
office3=Louisiana House of Representatives District 82 (Jefferson Parish)
term_start3=1996
term_end3= January 14, 2008
preceded3= Quentin Dastugue
succeeded3=Cameron Henry
birth_date= birth date and age|1965|10|10
spouse= Jennifer Letulle Scalise (born 1975)
children= Daughter - Madison Carol Scalise (born 2007)
party= Republican candidate for the United States House of Representatives, 2008
occupation= Systems analyst
religion= Roman Catholic
education= Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge
website= [http://scalise.house.gov/ Congressman Steve Scalise]
residence= Jefferson, Louisiana
alma_mater= Louisiana State University

Stephen Joseph "Steve" Scalise (born October 10, 1965) is a Representative of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st congressional district [ [http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.html?day=20080410&today=20080410 CURRENT HOUSE FLOOR PROCEEDINGS LEGISLATIVE DAY OF MAY 7, 2008 110TH CONGRESS - SECOND SESSION] ] [ [http://clerk.house.gov/new.html Office of the clerk, U.S. House of Representative: New To the Web site 5/7/2008] ] Previous to his Congressional service Scalise served in the Louisiana State Senate 5 months and the Louisiana House for 12 years. His Congressional seat was vacated by Bobby Jindal, who was elected Governor of Louisiana.

Early life

Scalise graduated from the Catholic Archbishop Rummel High School 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.

Louisiana Legislature

Scalise served three terms from District 82 in the Louisiana House before he was elected in the October 20, 2007, combined primary to the District 9 seat in the Louisiana State 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. A special election will be held to fill the remaining three and one-half years in Scalise's state Senate term.

Scalise was elected three times to the Louisiana House: 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.

Congressional 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 annonced his intentions to seek the seat yet again. This time he received Republican party backing.

Scalise's strongest Republican Primary opponent, state representative 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." [ [http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1205560202224150.xml&coll=1 Scalise defends integrity of GOP runoff survey- NOLA.com ] ]

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. [ [http://electionresults.sos.louisiana.gov/040508state.htm Louisiana Secretary of State Unofficial Election Results Inquiry Results for Election Date: 4/05/08] ] . [ [http://www.nola.com/ nola.com ELECTIONS section] ] [http://electionresults.sos.louisiana.gov/040508state.htm Louisiana Secretary of State Unofficial Election Results Inquiry Results for Election Date: 4/05/08] ] .

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. [ [http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcms2&rqsdta=050308 Louisiana Secretary of State-Multi-Parish Elections Inquiry ] ]

Scalise was sworn in on May 7, 2008.

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 one child, Madison Carol Scalise (born March 17, 2007).

ee also

*United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2008‎

References

External links

* [http://scalise.house.gov/ Congressman Steve Scalise] official U.S. House website
* [http://www.stevescalise.com Steve Scalise] official campaign website
* [http://www.politicsla.com/articles/2004/April/041904_scalise_intv.htm Interview with Scalise in 2004]