BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Phil Robertson, patriarch of TV's "Duck Dynasty" family, is the star of two new congressional campaign ads in Louisiana, hoping to boost support for his nephew, Republican Zach Dasher.
Dasher's campaign said the pair of 15-second ads will begin airing Tuesday around the northeast Louisiana-based 5th District and run through election day next week.
They're the first TV commercials to feature Dasher's famous family.
In the first spot, Robertson is holding a gun and a well-worn Bible, saying: "Hey Louisiana, Bibles and guns brought us here. And Bibles and guns will keep us here. Zach Dasher believes in both. That's why I'm voting for him."
Robertson describes Dasher in the second ad as a family man who "knows his Bible."
"He is a good man. We vetted him," the bearded TV star says.
Dasher, a political newcomer whose mom is Robertson's sister, is seeking the congressional seat currently held by Republican Vance McAllister.
Robertson backed McAllister in last year's special election, and help from the "Duck Dynasty" family helped draw attention to McAllister's long-shot campaign. But that was before the congressman was caught on a leaked security video kissing a woman who was not his wife.
Since the cheating scandal, the GOP congressman has drawn eight challengers in the Nov. 4 election. If no one wins a majority of voters' support next week, the top two vote-getters advance to a Dec. 6 runoff. Polls suggest the race is a toss-up.
Dasher is invoking a religious message, which could be a strong sell to evangelical Christians who question McAllister's claims of faith and family values after the kissing video. Dasher's famous kin have poured more than $50,000 into the campaign, and have helped him raise thousands more.
Joshua Stockley, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, said an ad from a "Duck Dynasty" family member could be Dasher's "last big splash to lure undecided voters."