How Steve Scalise Rose to Leadership

“Steve Scalise is known for giving his friends a little bit extra. In Louisiana, it’s called lagniappe,” Politico reports.

“Anytime anyone did a favor for the Louisiana Republican — whether they made a call for him, or spoke up on behalf of a bill he favored — they would find themselves on the receiving end of lagniappe (LAN-yap), or a small unexpected gift. Sometimes it was a praline — Scalise has a basket of them sitting, wrapped in plastic, on a coffee table next to the couch in his office in the Rayburn House Office Building. Other times it was a personalized note, T-shirt or flowers. On Wednesday night, the lawmakers who helped put him in a position to become the next House majority whip got an engraved red baseball bat.”

National Journal: Scalise’s route to the win showed his skill as a whip.