Pennsylvania’s Republican Representatives have the opportunity to expand their influence during the upcoming House leadership elections.
Politico is reporting that they will meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss assembling a voting coalition for House Majority Whip.
Louisiana’s Steve Scalise, Illinois’s Peter Roskam, and Indiana’s Marlin Stutzman are all fighting for the position, and the race appears close. Internal sources close to each of the representatives reported that Scalise leads with about 100 supporters, while Roskam and Stutzman command 90 and 50, respectively.
The 13 PA GOP lawmakers, who range from extremely conservative to moderate, would represent a sizable voting block if banded together.
As Scalise and Stutzman are highly conservative candidates, the more moderate Roskam believes that the Pennsylvania coalition might turn the tide in his favor.
Roskam specifically looks for support from the more moderate Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8), Rep. Charlie Dent (PA-15), and Rep. Bill Shuster (PA-9). Fitzpatrick was backed by Congressman Gabrielle Giffords’ gun control SuperPAC, Dent recently affirmed his support for same-sex marriage, and Shuster works closely with bipartisan leadership on infrastructure spending.
The three candidates for whip will meet with the Pa. GOP Representatives, as well as with Southern lawmakers on Wednesday. GOP constituencies have helped past Republican House members such as Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) attain leadership positions.
It is difficult to predict whether Scalise, Roskam or Stutzman will be elected, as Representatives sometimes commit to more than one candidate publicly, though they vote by secret ballot.
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5 Responses
Shuster is a moderate? I thought his entire campaign was about how he’s such a conservative!
I guess now that he’s back in office he doesn’t have to worry about what his constituents would want for another 2 years.
“though they vote by secret ballot”
I’m surprised their aren’t 200 separate people each with one vote. 🙂
…they RESPECT his thoughts.
Scalise is sharp, as evidenced by his positions in Congress which reflect colleagues reflect his thoughts.
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/steve-scalise-andthe-butterfly-effect/Content?oid=2456317
My money is on the extremist nutjob Scalise, because the Republican Party is intent on rendering itself irrelevant. And while the PA delegation will profess to all vote for the same guy, each of them will vote for their favorite nutjob, because Republicans don’t believe in working together on ANYthing. This should be ALMOST as much fun as the fiasco that was the Idaho state Repub convention chaired by Raul Labrador!