Missouri boat ride

Politics | Social conservative Roy Blunt fills in for indicted majority leader Tom DeLay | Lynn Vincent

When House majority whip Tom DeLay in 2002 succeeded Rep. Dick Armey as majority leader, he tapped his own successor, Rep. Roy Blunt. What Mr. DeLay didn't know was that three years later, the Missouri Republican would succeed him again.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Sept. 28 announced that Mr. Blunt would temporarily assume Mr. DeLay's duties as House majority leader after a Travis County, Texas, grand jury indicted the Sugar Land congressman on one count of criminal conspiracy, a felony. Outside his southwestern Missouri district, where tourists flock to Branson to see live stage shows filled with Stetsons, petticoats, and the twang of slide guitars, majority whip Mr. Blunt isn't well-known.

But in Washington, D.C., he is the king of K Street, marshaling an army of lobbyists and loyalists that regularly delivers Republican victories on the House floor. Mr. Blunt's vote-counting success rivals even that of his predecessor Mr. DeLay, who was whispered to be the best whip ever to terrorize the Beltway.