BATON ROUGE - Former U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister, who lost his re-election bid after a cheating scandal, is trying to return to Louisiana politics.

Only this time, he's set his sights lower than Congress.

McAllister, a Republican, said Friday he intends to run for a state Senate seat representing northeast Louisiana. He's seeking to oust two-term GOP incumbent Mike Walsworth.

The former congressman says Walsworth has been too closely allied with unpopular Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is running for president.

A self-made millionaire, McAllister surprised the political establishment when he won the 5th District congressional seat in 2013 in his first bid for elected office.

But months later a video surfaced showing the married congressman kissing a married member of his congressional staff. That cost him re-election in 2014.