Rep. Scalise misses out on bid for majority leader
WASHINGTON — Louisiana Republicans expressed disappointment Thursday that Rep. Steve Scalise won’t have a chance to become House majority leader now that Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California has decided to remain in the post.
McCarthy, the No. 2 Republican in the House, surprised his colleagues by dropping out of the race to replace Rep. John Boehner as House speaker, saying, "I just think it's best to have a new face."
Scalise, the House majority whip, had hoped to replace McCarthy, who had been favored to win his bid for speaker.
“Scalise has been known to be a unifier, a good leader as far as getting what Louisiana needs to the forefront of legislation,’’ said Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-5th District. “I was looking forward to having Scalise as leader.’’
Boehner announced recently he would leave Congress at the end of the month.
Scalise did not respond to requests for comment.
Louisiana Republican lawmakers had pledged to support Scalise’s bid for majority leader against a bid by Georgia Rep. Tom Price, chairman of the House Budget Committee. Political experts said Scalise faced major hurdles, including his status as part of a GOP leadership team that hard-line conservatives say has compromised too quickly with Democrats.
Earlier this week, Scalise said he had enough support to win the majority leader's post.
McCarthy’s decision set off a scramble to find other candidates for speaker Thursday. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., also were in the race.
Abraham said he would support Scalise for the speaker's job if Scalise campaigns for it.
“That would be a question that I’m sure he would be happy to answer in a day or two after he makes his calls and decides which way to go,’’ Abraham said.
Pearson Cross, a political scientist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said he doesn’t expect Scalise to jump into the speaker's race.
"He is more likely to continue right where he is, in a post he could defend, than to move up,’’ said Cross. “It's just premature for Scalise, and he was recently seared by scandal, which, while not disqualifying, does nothing to help."
Cross was referring to revelations last year that Scalise spoke to a white supremacist group, the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, in 2002, when he was a state lawmaker. Scalise has said he regrets addressing the group.
Jeffrey Sadow, a political scientist at Louisiana State University at Shreveport, said Chaffetz and Webster have a head start in the speaker's race. And he said Scalise probably would have a hard time distinguishing himself from either of the two.
“I suspect he stays on the sidelines unless they put off the speaker candidate elections a considerable time,’’ Sadow said. “The longer it goes on, the more that demonstrates no one can gain a consensus and Scalise's reputation and interpersonal skills could be what's needed to unite the conference.’’
McCarthy’s campaign suffered a setback Wednesday when the Freedom Caucus, a group of about 40 hardline conservatives, announced it would vote as a bloc to back Webster.
Rep. John Fleming, R-4th District, a founding member of the caucus, said his office has received calls from constituents urging him not to vote for McCarthy.
“It’s not pro anybody, it’s anti-McCarthy,’’ Fleming said Wednesday,
Rep. Garret Graves, R-6th District, said voters are frustrated with Congress and McCarthy’s decision allows “a good opportunity to press the pause button.’’
“We need to take a breath, think carefully about the best team to lead Congress and this country in an entirely new direction as voters have demanded,’’ he said in a statement.
Abraham said McCarthy's exit from the speaker's race offers Republicans "an opportunity... to circle the wagons and come out with actually a good, clear vision and direction for the country."
“I look at it as an opportunity, not at all as a setback," he said. "I want fresh ideas. I want fresh faces.’’
Contact Deborah Barfield Berry at dberry@gannett.com. Twitter: @dberrygannett