Lawmaker shot during baseball practice helps stump for Handel's re-election

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Barely a year after a gunman shot him at a congressional baseball team practice, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La) was in metro Atlanta campaigning for Rep. Karen Handel’s re-election.

"I'm doing well," Scalise told Channel 2 political reporter Richard Elliot in an exclusive interview. "I've come a long way in a little over a year."

Handel is running for re-election barely a year after she won Georgia's 6th Congressional District in what was the single most expensive congressional campaign in U.S. history.

She defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff to fill out the term of former Rep. Tom Price, who left to serve in President Donald Trump's cabinet. Price has since resigned as secretary of Health and Human Services.

“Every race has its own cadence,” Handel said, remembering that campaign. “I take every race as serious as possible.”

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This time, Handel’s opponent is Democrat Lucy McBath.

McBath is campaigning on a platform of more gun control. Her son was shot to death outside a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man who thought the 17-year old was playing his music too loud. A jury convicted that man of murder.

Elliot contacted McBath's campaign for comment on this story, but was told the candidate was not available for an on-camera interview.

In a statement, her campaign wrote: "Steve Scalise is out-of-step with the sixth district. Karen Handel and Steve Scalise have repeatedly worked against expanding access to women’s healthcare and also voted for the tax bill that gave millions of dollars of tax breaks to corporations while adding trillions to our National Debt."

Handel said she sympathizes with McBath, calling her both courageous and extraordinary, but she said she disagrees with her call for more gun control.

“We can make sure our schools are safe and our communities are safe without undermining the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens,” Handel told Elliot.

Scalise, who has recovered from the wounds but still needs a cane to get around, said he also supports the Second Amendment.

“At the time, I was saved by people with guns who took the shooter down,” Scalise said. “I see every day how people are able to defend themselves and their families. That’s really at the heart and core of the Second Amendment.”

Cox Media Group