Biography Steve Scalise

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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. He previously served in the Louisiana Senate and the Louisiana House of Representatives.

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.

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. Have you voted for or against Steve Scalise ? 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). Has changed the detail your opinion on Steve Scalise ? 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 perecent). Thomas had also lost the race for the seat in 2007 to Scalise. Scalise was succeeded in his state legislative post by his aide, Cameron Henry of Metairie.

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").

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. Have you read details about Mitch McConnell ? 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."

Political campaigns

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. Can Steve Scalise have an influence on Mitch McConnell ? 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. . . . Did you know that Steve Scalise is popular at 22% of voters?? 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."

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.

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.

Scalise was sworn in on May 7, 2008.

In the regularly scheduled election, Scalise was reelected over Democrat Jim Harlan, 66 percent to 34 percent.

Republican incumbent Steve Scalise is running for re-election, challenged by Democratic nominee Myron Katz and Independent Arden Wells.

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. 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.

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).

Source: wikipedia

November 19th, 2011