Majority Leader Scalise faces few challengers in race for eighth term

(The Center Square) — As election day gets closer, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La, continues to lead the race for Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District seat.

Scalise has been serving as the representative for the southern tip of the boot since 2008, which would make this victory his eighth in a row. The U.S. Rep. has been in Louisiana politics since 1996, when he began his career in the state House of Representatives.

As the Republican majority leader, Scalise has been an important figure for the GOP since 2014, and his elections show it. Congressional District 1 in the Pelican State has gone to its incumbent by at least a 70% vote since 2014. This year, Scalise will have his most challengers since 2018, and his first Republican opponents since 2012.

The two other GOP candidates are Randall Arrington and Ross Shales, neither of which have political experience. Arrington is a retired naval aviator and political science professor and Shales is an insurance agency owner.

Shales wants to address insurance issues in Louisiana, which is a top issue for the state’s residents. Shales says he wants federal tax breaks for fortified roofs to help Louisianans better protect their homes and attain less expensive property insurance.

The other two opponents are Frankie Hyers, unaffiliated, and Mel Manuel, Democrat.

A previous story from The Center Square explained that as of June 29, the House Majority Leader trounced all challengers in campaign contributions spending over $12 million, according to data from the Federal Election Commission. The only challenger with any reported contribution data was Manuel, who raised more than $10,000.

Now, Manuel sits at almost $60,000 raised and just over $32,000 spent. Meanwhile, Scalise has moved up to about $13.5 million in contributions with expenditures even higher, around $14.3 million.

Manuel is running as a supporter of the LGBTQ community and legislation. They are the director of operations for the Louisiana Abortion Fund and the co-director of Queer Northshore, the LGBTQ nonprofit that brought PRIDE to St. Tammany.

Scalise, on the other hand, has focused his X account on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the border crisis. He has recently supported Israel’s right to defend itself and pointed out a change in FBI crime data that shows a spike in violent crime under the Biden administration, rather than a drop as previously indicated.