NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The nephew of
"Duck Dynasty" reality TV personality Phil Robertson said on Monday he
would run for the U.S. House of Representatives in northeastern
Louisiana as a conservative Republican.
The entry of 36-year-old political newcomer Zach Dasher into the
race for the seat of Representative Vance McAllister, who was rocked
by a sex scandal earlier this year, will test the Robertson clan's
clout in Louisiana's largely rural 5th District.
"My basic platform begins with God," Dasher said in a phone
interview. "I want to go to D.C. to restore America to what she once
was."
Dasher, who is on leave from his sales job at a pharmaceutical
company, said he was running with the full backing of his family
members made famous by the A&E program "Duck Dynasty," based on
their business selling duck hunting supplies.
"Uncle Phil said he's vetted me for 36 years," Dasher said,
referring to company founder Phil Robertson, who was briefly
suspended from the show last year after making anti-gay remarks.
Members of the Robertson family were not immediately available for
comment, a publicist said.
McAllister, a first-term conservative Republican, was aided in his
2013 special election victory by public support from Willie
Robertson, another star of the "Duck Dynasty" program.
The political future of the married McAllister was thrown into doubt
earlier this year after a video of him kissing a female staffer was
made public.
He said in April he would not seek re-election but has since said he
is leaving his options open, the Lafayette-based Daily Advertiser
newspaper reported.
A spokeswoman for McAllister did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
(Additional reporting by Lisa Bose McDermott in Texarkana, Arkansas;
Writing by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Peter Cooney)
