WASHINGTON
— As the majority whip in the House, Representative Steve Scalise is
known among his Republican colleagues as a pleasant, persistent force,
who gently checks back to see whether a lawmaker who has repeatedly said
“nope, not with you” on a coming vote has had a change of heart.
Back
home in southern Louisiana, Mr. Scalise hangs his own Christmas lights
on his modest house in suburban Jefferson while his security team idles
nearby, pads around Sam’s Club with his honey-do list on Saturdays, and
continues to knock on doors for votes, even though he has few
challengers these days.
In
both places, Mr. Scalise is known for his passionate love of baseball
and for the annual congressional baseball game, a Washington tradition
in which Republicans play Democrats for charity. His office is decorated
with photos of him playing in previous contests, and he is a fixture at
practices.
He
was standing at second base during one of those practices on Wednesday
outside Washington, one day before the game, when a gunman opened fire,
wounding Mr. Scalise and at least three others, the authorities said.
Witnesses said Mr. Scalise was shot in the hip and fell to the ground,
then crawled toward outfield grass as more shots rang out.
“Steve loves and passionately looks forward to that Congressional Baseball Game,”
said Jason Hebert, a Republican political consultant who has worked
with Mr. Scalise for years. “When he ran for whip after his election, he
gave everyone on his team a Marucci baseball bat, which is made in Louisiana. He has a real love for baseball. This was a real big source of pride and enjoyment for him.”
Mr.
Scalise, 51, has been a fixture in Louisiana Republican politics. He
served in the Louisiana State Legislature, where he played baseball in
State House and Senate matchups, and was known for pressing hard on
legislation that included many conservative bills and a measure to
better position the state as a film destination. The State Capitol was
where he mastered the art of the personal relationship.
State
Senator Norbèrt Chabert recalled being in Baton Rouge a few weeks ago
during a grueling legislative session when he got a text from Mr.
Scalise, who had just dined at a restaurant owned by Mr. Chabert’s niece
and sent him a photo of her. “He said he ‘had a great meal at
Dominique’s and wish you were here,’ ” Mr. Chabert recalled. “That’s the
kind of guy Steve is.”
Mr.
Scalise won a special election in 2008 to fill the House seat of Bobby
Jindal, who had been elected governor. In Congress, Mr. Scalise quickly
and quietly amassed power among a diverse group of House Republicans, in
spite of the most conservative wing’s persistent chafing at what it saw
as his establishment-wing persona.
At
the end of 2012, he was elected chairman of the Republican Study
Committee, a large group of conservative House Republicans who are
generally viewed as more favorable to House leaders than the far smaller
House Freedom Caucus. Mr. Scalise used the position as a springboard to
become whip, the No. 3 position in the House.
Mr.
Scalise seemed poised to rise in House leadership after Speaker John A.
Boehner announced in 2015 that he would retire, but a bid by
Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority leader, to
replace Mr. Boehner was scuttled and Mr. Scalise stayed put. He was somewhat hobbled by revelations that year that he had addressed a group of white supremacists affiliated with David Duke in Metairie, La., about a dozen years earlier.
Mr.
Scalise, who represents one of the most dependably Republican districts
in Louisiana, was a reliable critic of President Barack Obama and
largely a strong supporter of President Trump, who once recorded a
birthday message for one of the congressman’s children.
In
the 2016 election, Mr. Scalise cruised to victory with 75 percent of
the vote in a field of seven candidates. He has been an aggressive voice
for the gas and oil industry,
typical of a politician of either party from his state, and for
sportsmen and small-business owners. His crusade against the Obama-era
Dodd-Frank bank regulations endeared him to many in the district like
Kellen Picou, whose family owns Mr. Ronnie’s Famous Hot Donuts in Houma.
“This is one of the reasons I was following him,” Mr. Picou said.
Mr.
Scalise, who can be seen after House votes cheerfully plowing through
the Capitol like a bobcat on the hunt for his next meal, is popular
among his colleagues, who say he refrains from the sort of hardball
tactics that whips sometimes use to wring out votes. “He generally tries
to use a soft-glove approach,” said Representative Charlie Dent,
Republican of Pennsylvania, who resisted voting for a health care bill
that the White House deeply wanted to pass. “He is relentless even if
you’ve told him no. I was a no on health care, but that didn’t stop him
from coming up again and asking.”
Mr.
Scalise, who is married with two children, is big on telling stories
and jokes, and he has been known to don a waiter’s jacket and show up at
the tables of friends and associates if he learns they are dining in
the same restaurant.
With
much turnover in the Louisiana congressional delegation in recent
years, and with a Democratic governor at the helm, Mr. Scalise is widely
viewed as his party’s biggest elected star in the state, and a
rainmaker for other lawmakers.
“Steve
just has the golden touch,” said Brian Trascher, a lobbyist in New
Orleans with long-lasting political ties to Mr. Scalise. He campaigned
for Mr. Scalise as a student at Louisiana State University, Mr.
Scalise’s alma mater, when he first ran for the statehouse in 1995. “I
think just because he may be the longest-serving Republican elected
official in the state, he is definitely the most powerful Republican in
the state right now.”
Mr.
Trascher added, “When he became whip we would joke, ‘Oh Steven, you’re a
big shot now; you’ve got bodyguards.’ Well and thank Jesus Christ he
had those now.”
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