Louisiana Republican Steve Scalise is poised to become the next Speaker of the House, reaching the top of a ladder he has swiftly climbed since first coming to Congress in 2008.

A conservative opposing abortion and supporting immigration restrictions, Mr Scalise worked closely with the past three Republican Speakers.

He is mostly known, though, for being shot after a baseball practice in 2017.

Recently, he was diagnosed with blood cancer.

But Mr Scalise, who recently turned 58, has said the disease is “very treatable” and will not interfere with his work in the House.

A bigger threat to him taking the gavel comes from 2002, when he spoke to a conference for a racist group founded by white supremacist David Duke. He later said he regretted that “mistake”.

News of that speech emerged more than a decade later, and journalist Stephanie Grace wrote that Mr Scalise had promoted himself around that time as “David Duke without the baggage.”

A fellow southern Republican, Representative Nancy Mace, has said she will not support Scalise’s bid for Speaker because she “cannot, in good conscience, vote for someone who attended a white supremacist conference and compared himself to David Duke.”

Ms Grace, the journalist, recently told NPR that she believed Mr Scalise meant to imply in his comparison that he shared Duke’s disapproval of affirmative action and entitlements, but rejected Duke’s notorious racism and anti-Semitism.

Mr Scalise is currently majority leader, which put him second in command to the recently removed Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and his stance on issues almost never deviates from the official party line.

That includes advocating for gun ownership. He has said his experience, where he was shot in the hip after a congressional baseball practice and spent weeks recovering, has not diminished his support for the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms.

His personal background is often reflected in his political stances.

A Roman Catholic with a wife and two kids, Mr Scalise was born in New Orleans and graduated from Louisiana State University. He opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, and is critical of President Joe Biden’s environmental policies. Louisiana is a major oil producer.

Then there’s former President Donald Trump.

Mr Scalise was one of the Republicans to vote on January 6, 2021, against Mr Biden’s electors, essentially trying to block Congress from certifying Mr Biden as the rightful winner of the 2020 election.

He denounced the day’s ensuing violence, but then refused to disavow incorrect claims that the election was “stolen” from Mr Trump. He also voted against impeaching Mr Trump.

Still, Mr Scalise is seen as more moderate than his opponent in the Speaker’s race, Representative Jim Jordan, who received Mr Trump’s endorsement. In the past he has supported sending aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia, a break from the party’s right wing.

As he tries to win votes, he may be moving farther right.

In a letter to Republican lawmakers last week, Mr Scalise said they need to “work to extract conservative wins from the Democrat Senate and White House by leveraging upcoming deadlines”, referring to the next date when the government could have to shut down.

Under a last-minute deal brokered by Mr McCarthy at the end of September, the government has enough money to operate until the middle of November.

That deal lacked money for increased border security and spending cuts demanded by the right wing, which ultimately cost Mr McCarthy the Speaker’s gavel.

Mr Scalise in his letter made it plain he supported their spending priorities.