WASHINGTON _ Clay Higgins, better known by his Internet moniker Cajun John Wayne, was taped telling his ex-wife that getting elected to Congress would help pay back thousands of dollars in child support.
Higgins is one of two Republicans in the runoff race to fill retiring Louisiana Rep. Charles Boustany Jr.'s congressional seat.
"This campaign, it is a risk, but everything is structured in our favor," Higgins tells Rosemary "Stormy" Rothkamm-Hambrice on the tape, and "Ours includes you."
Higgins owes his ex-wife more than $100,000 in child support, according to The Advocate.
"I was trying to structure something more sort of solid and legal, you know in a document you had drawn up based on very likely potential future earnings," Higgins says on the tape.
Higgins' lawyer Ted Anthony said his client was trying to say, "If he were to win, it would give him the resources to resolve this matter," adding that he believes Higgins "is genuine in his desire to take care of this."
Higgins is up against Public Service Commissioner and former Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle to represent Louisiana's 3rd District, which includes the city of Lafayette.
A former law enforcement official, Higgins found internet fame making promotional crime-fighting videos for the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office, in which he highlights crimes and taunts the people who committed them.
The 3rd District runoff is one of three high-profile races to be settled on Saturday, but it has provided the most drama and is the most unpredictable.
