Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) joined the leader of the state party in calling for Rep. Vince McAllister (R-La.) to resign on Thursday, after a video surfaced earlier this week showing him kissing a married staffer.
{mosads}“Congressman McAllister’s behavior is an embarrassment and he should resign,” Jindal said in a statement. “He says he wants privacy to work on his issues with his family. The best way to get privacy and work on putting his family back together is to resign from Congress.”
Louisiana GOP Chairman Roger Villere issued a similar request earlier Thursday, also declaring that he “embarrassed our party, our state and the institution of Congress.”
McAllister’s chief of staff, Adam Terry, said Wednesday evening the lawmaker has no plans to resign.
None of McAllister’s fellow members of Congress has yet called for his resignation, nor has any members of House Republican leadership.
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday said he had spoken to McAllister and that the congressman had “decisions that he has to make,” but he did not call for him to step down.
“I expect all members to be held to the highest ethical standards, and this is no different,” Boehner told reporters when asked if he still had confidence in McAllister. “I have spoken to him, and he’s got decisions that he has to make.”
Still, the video has been damaging for McAllister and resulted in many of his formal rivals from the 2013 special election considering rematches against him this year.
Russell Berman contributed to this report.