Analysis: Questionable if GOP backs incumbent congressman in runoff

By JEREMY ALFORD
LaPolitics News Service
Delivering stump speeches that roast Republican party officials may have finally caught up with Congressman Vance McAllister, R-Swartz.
The bad blood, however, dates back much further than the ongoing contest in the 5th Congressional District. GOP leaders backed McAllister’s opponent in last year’s special election, after the incumbent bucked Gov. Bobby Jindal’s stance on Medicaid expansion. And they implored McAllister to resign earlier this year after a video was released of him kissing a married aide.
Asked if the party would wholeheartedly support McAllister if he makes the runoff against Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo, a Democrat, Louisiana Republican Party Executive Director Jason Doré said it would be a “tough decision.”
Noting that the Senate race will be the party’s focus, he added, “I think by far (McAllister) would be the weakest candidate against Mayo. We hope one of the other candidates make the runoff.”
McAllister responded, “I’m going to take the words from one of the most conservative presidents our country has ever seen, President Ronald Reagan, and say I will not speak ill will of a fellow Republican. Second, I don’t know why it’s such a tough decision for them when it was an easy decision for one of the most powerful conservative groups in the nation, the NRA, to endorse me. Third, it’s no secret I wasn’t Gov. Jindal’s and the Republican leadership’s handpicked candidate last time, nor am I the handpicked candidate this time. It is clear they have more than one candidate in this race this time to try to control this seat in Congress. It’s obvious which candidates those are.”
Asked to elaborate, McAllister declined, although Dr. Ralph Abraham and Zach Dasher are viewed as conservative forces in the race. Despite the reservations of state leaders, national Republicans are coming to McAllister’s aid.
A recent fundraiser was hosted in D.C. by a group of colleagues and Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin is said to be heading to the 5th District later this month to help McAllister raise money.
The state party may not be able to avoid helping McAllister, directly or indirectly. The limits on independent expenditures may force it to eventually pull McAllister into its spending model, in such a runoff scenario, so that more resources can actually be directed to helping Congressman Bill Cassidy unseat incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu.
Scalise managing
two elections
Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, is running in elections in Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District and in the nation’s House.
He has to get past the Nov. 4 ballot in the state, though, before he gets to the Nov. 13 leadership elections, which shouldn’t be a problem.
Roughly four months after being selected as whip, the third most powerful position in the lower chamber, Scalise is having to gear up to seek re-election for the leadership post.
“I’ve started reaching out to my colleagues,” he told LaPolitics. “I’ve already started asking for their support again and I think we have a broader team this time around.”
Opposition on the Hill has not yet surfaced, he added.
While opportunities to whip important votes have been rare during his brief tenure, Scalise has curried favor by overseeing the remodeling of the cloak room in the old House chamber, where Abraham Lincoln met with friends and talked around a fireplace when he was a member more than 100 years ago. Scalise reopened the lounge area to members about a month ago and it now includes artifacts from the former president’s life in politics.
“We got everyone together for jambalaya, gumbo and boudin,” he said.
Back home, Scalise’s campaign has initiated a six-figure media buy for his congressional re-election campaign, despite not facing serious opposition. The spot that’s now running, called “Pass the Popcorn,” cleverly casts Scalise as the star of a movie trailer.
While some question the need for such a huge buy, one operative noted dryly, “He doesn’t want to go full-Cantor.”
Scalise was able to run for whip during the ongoing term because former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia unexpectedly lost his re-election bid this summer and resigned from his post, setting up the leadership swap. Pundits contend one of the reasons Cantor was booted out by voters was because he lost touch with his home district and focused more on the District of Columbia.
Louisiana Senate
runoff may not be last
Much has been made about Louisiana’s December runoff and how it could host the contest that decides the partisan makeup of the U.S. Senate.
Yet the Bayou State may not be the last to hold a runoff.
Georgia may actually need a runoff election, too, which is scheduled for Jan. 6, three days after Congress is sworn in.
Some polls show the Republican there, David Perdue, with a one-point lead over Democrat Michelle Nunn, and Libertarian Amanda Swafford is holding onto five points that could decide that race.
If Swafford holds her ground or gains momentum, Georgia’s runoff could push the calendar further back than the original forecast coming out of Louisiana.
They Said It
From last weeks’ 6th Congressional District forum hosted by the Louisiana State Medical Society:
“I’ve seen some of the forums you’ve all been at before.”
—VP of governmental affairs and moderator Jennifer Marusak, explaining why she was implementing a time limit
“The whigs used to make fun of Republicans in the 1830s and 1840s. I don’t see many whigs around these days.”
—Rufus Craig, on being a Libertarian
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.