METAIRIE, La. — An antique fire engine, decked out in red, white, and blue, traveled up and down Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie carrying Congressman Steve Scalise and a truckload of volunteers.
They waived to voters along the way, thanking them for their support.
This has become an Election Day tradition for Scalise who is seeking his ninth term in the House, representing Louisiana and voters in his suburban New Orleans district.
“It flies by but has always been an honor to represent southeast Louisiana in Congress and every two years we have our traditions on election day,” Scalise told WWL Louisiana. “We never take it for granted. We just came from St. Tammany Parish and here in Jefferson we take the fire truck, bring a bunch of volunteers around Veterans, just continue those traditions like finishing up at Drago’s Restaurant tonight.”
The Metairie Republican is holding his election night watch party at Drago’s Restaurant which is owned by his good friend and restauranteur Tommy Cvitanovich.
His opponents this time around include Mel Manuel, a Democrat from Madisonville. Two fellow Republicans are also running, Randall Arrington from Ponchatoula and Ross Shales from New Orleans.
There is also one no-party challenger, Frankie Hyers.
With no other major candidate in the race, Scalise has spent time on the campaign trail this election cycle, stumping for other GOP candidates and former President Donald Trump.
“There’s incredible energy and I feel the momentum,” Scalise said. “I was with President Trump on Sunday in Georgia and North Carolina, two swing states. We had packed rallies at both of those events. I spoke right before the president at those. You just feel the energy of the crowd even more than that, it’s looking at the early voting numbers. That’s been the story so far this election season. Republicans have been voting much higher numbers than democrats in the swing states, early voting.”
In his current role as House Majority Leader, Scalise oversees the House floor and schedules legislation for votes.
Tuesday, before the polls closed, he said Republicans stand a good chance to win back the White House, expand the House majority and flip the Senate back to the GOP.
“I think everybody’s going to be watching Pennsylvania. They are kind of the ultimate swing state, but obviously there’s other states too. There’s Arizona and even a state like Nevada which is now in play where we have a chance to win. Go look at New Hampshire which will come in early. If a state like that is even close it shows you that we have a chance to do really well.”
Scalise was seriously injured in 2017 when he was shot by a gunman who opened fire as congressional Republicans were practicing for an annual charity baseball game.
He was also diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which he described as “a very treatable blood cancer.
“There will be a day when I don’t do this anymore,” Scalise said. “I never want to look back and go man if I only worked a little bit harder. Look, I’ve been truly blessed. God’s given me a few second chances in life, you know, from the shooting to a bout with cancer. I’m in remission now. I’ve had lots of prayers from people here in Louisiana and people all around the country. If I’ve got my health and the opportunity to go and fight more, I’m going to continue doing that.”
Scalise almost never deviates from the official Republican Party line on issues such as gun rights, border security, a strong domestic energy policy, abortion and same-sex marriage.
“We’ve got an opportunity to get this country back on track and I know it’s been a tough election season, but we’re still the greatest country in the history of the world,” Scalise said. “We’re in tough times now with high inflation, high gas prices, open borders, the world in chaos. We can do better.”
The polls close in Louisiana at 8 p.m. Stay tuned to WWL-TV and wwltv.com throughout the evening as the votes are counted here and across the country.
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