Who Is Melissa Anne Hixon Peacock? Meet Rep. Vance McAllister's Alleged Mistress

The suspected mistress of Rep. Vance McAllister, R-La., has been revealed. The Ouachita Citizen of West Monroe, La., identified Melissa Anne Hixon Peacock as McAllister’s alleged lover Monday.

The two were caught passionately kissing two days before Christmas on surveillance video. Peacock has been acknowledged as one of McAllister’s congressional aides and Heavy wrote she is a practicing cosmetologist. Like McAllister, 40, the 33-year-old aide is married (to someone else) and according to Ouachita Citizen, Peacock’s husband Heath donated $5,200 to McAllister’s congressional campaign last fall. McAllister was elected in a special November 2013 vote after the incumbent resigned to take a state government job.

But the affair isn’t the first time McAllister made headlines and gained national notoriety. The Christian Republican invited members from “Duck Dynasty” to President Barack Obama's 2014 State of the Union address. The Associated Press reported in November that McAllister’s friendship with Phil Robertson, who made anti-gay remarks during a GQ interview in December 2013, raised his campaign’s profile. He won 60 percent of the vote in the race against state Sen. Neil Riser. It was a pretty impressive win since he was a newcomer to the political scene.

McAllister and his wife Kelly have five children together. They have been married for 16 years.

The Louisiana congressman hasn’t denied, nor explicitly confirmed, an affair and on Monday afternoon he released a statement where he apologized and asked to be forgiven. He did not, however, say Peacock was the woman on the surveillance video.

"There's no doubt I've fallen short and I'm asking for forgiveness. I'm asking for forgiveness from God, my wife, my kids, my staff, and my constituents who elected me to serve," McAllister said in a statement. "Trust is something I know has to be earned whether you're a husband, a father, or a congressman. I promise to do everything I can to earn back the trust of everyone I've disappointed."

He went on: "From day one, I've always tried to be an honest man. I ran for Congress to make a difference and not to just be another politician. I don't want to make a political statement on this, I would just simply like to say that I'm very sorry for what I've done.

"While I realize I serve the public, I would appreciate the privacy given to my children as we get through this," McAllister added.

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