Republican Rep. Vance McAllister of Louisiana, a married man who was caught on camera earlier this month passionately kissing a staffer, on Monday announced he will not seek re-election to a second term.
“There’s no doubt I’ve made a mistake,” McAllister said in a prepared statement, adding, “Today I am announcing that I will not seek re-election” in November.
McAllister, 40, is married with five children, and relatively new to Congress, having taken office last November after a special election to fill a vacant seat. He ran a campaign that emphasized conservative Christian values.
McAllister apologized earlier this month after a Louisiana newspaper posted a surveillance video showing him in a passionate embrace with his scheduler, Melissa Peacock, in his Louisiana office. Peacock has resigned.
The congressman, who said he will fill out his term through this year, had earlier rejected a number of calls from fellow Republicans to resign, including Louisiana Gov. Piyush “Bobby” Jindal.
The staffer in question resigned shortly after the video was released.
Reporting by Lisa Bose McDermott and Thomas Ferraro; editing by Doina Chiacu and G Crosse
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