DeLay Successor Less Combative

In elevating California Rep. David Dreier as a temporary replacement for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, the GOP is turning to a congressman with fewer sharp edges.

Dreier, 53, a 13-term Republican from suburban San Dimas east of Los Angeles, is outgoing and friendly where DeLay can be prickly.

Skilled at one-on-one politics, he seems never to forget a name.

Dreier maintains a reliably conservative voting record on economic issues and follows the lead of Republican leaders. He never comes off as extreme.

"When Republicans turn to Dreier they're putting their best face forward, because he's articulate, reasonable and attractive," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California, where Dreier graduated in 1975.

"DeLay can be articulate, but in the press he shows too much of a hard edge," Pitney said.

Dreier has a more moderate voting record on some social issues than DeLay, for example opposing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage that DeLay supported.

He is a frequent face on television talk shows, particularly after serving as one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's top supporters when the actor ran for governor in 2003.

Dreier remains among Schwarzenegger's top Capitol Hill allies, and on the governor's trips to Washington the two smoke cigars together in Dreier's Rules Committee office in the Capitol.

"David Dreier is a reasonable conservative who represents his party and the governor in a very thoughtful and credible manner," said Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's deputy chief of staff for communications.

Dreier has been talked about as a U.S. Senate candidate, but he passed on entreaties to challenge liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer last year.

He faced a surprisingly difficult re-election campaign last year when the hosts of a conservative talk radio show in Los Angeles criticized him for what they said was his failure to support tough anti-immigration measures. Dreier has supported President Bush's guest worker program. He won re-election to his House seat with just under 54 percent of the vote, down from 64 percent in 2002.

A native of Kansas City, Mo., Dreier is unmarried.