Oil, Gas Ties Power House Speaker Candidate Scalise Fundraising

House speaker candidate Steve Scalise represents a Louisiana district where energy is a major economic driver. That’s helped him forge longstanding close ties to the oil and gas industry, with Koch Industries Inc. and Valero Energy Corp. among his recent top political action committee donors.

Four of the five largest PAC donors to the Louisiana Republican’s joint fundraising committee, known as the Scalise Leadership Fund, hail from the sector and already this year have cut big checks to the sitting House majority leader, Federal Election Commission records show.

The political fundraising of Scalise and his main competitor, House Judiciary Chairman ...