Vance McAllister Announces He Will Seek Re-Election

Rep. Vance McAllister, the Louisiana Republican known as the “Kissing Congressman” after he was caught kissing a married aide, will seek re-election in November.
“We spent the weekend trying to make sure this was exactly right for us and the family,” McAllister said on the Moon Griffon radio show in Louisiana Monday morning. “It’s taken a lot of hard praying,”
McAllister, who won the seat in a special election in November, will formally make the announcement at a news conference Monday morning.
McAllister had recently waffled on whether he would seek a full term in Louisiana’s 5th District. He announced in April — weeks after security camera footage leaked of him kissing his aide— that he would not run again for the seat. Just a few weeks later, McAllister recanted that decision , saying he was keeping all of his options open for another bid.
McAllister has until Aug. 22 to officially file the necessary paperwork for a bid.
Other Republicans have already announced bids for the seat, including Zach Dasher, cousin of “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson , one of the 5th District’s most famous residents.
The Robertson family endorsed Dasher. That’s a blow to McAllister’s re-election hopes, as his win last November is largely credited to Willie Robertson cutting an ad for McAllister’s bid in the final days of the contest.
McAllister, who funded much of his special election bid last year, had just $8,400 in cash on hand as of March 31. Second-quarter fundraising reports are due to the Federal Election Commission by July 15, and that will show whether McAllister was raising money to gear up for a bid again this fall.
Louisiana’s 5th District is rated a Safe Republican contest by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call. GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried the district by a 23-point margin in 2012.