Jim Bob Duggar (left) and Michelle Duggar.Photo: D Dipasupil/Getty
“I’m running for State Senate because these are unprecedented times in our nation. Out-of-control bureaucrats have put politics over common-sense policy with government mandates that force people to choose between earning a paycheck and violating their personal rights and beliefs,” Jim Bob, 56, said in the release. “The foundational principles that have made our nation great are under threat like never before.”
The release continued: “It’s time for conservatives to demand courageous leadership that puts Arkansas families, jobs, and our constitutional liberties first.”
As noted in the release, Jim Bob previously served in the Arkansas House of Representatives for four years, from 1999 to 2002.
Jim Bob, wife Michelle, 54, and their 19 kids were the stars of two wildly popular reality showsabout their deeply conservative Christian family on TLC.
Josh has pleaded not guilty.
“We intend to defend this case aggressively and thoroughly,” Josh’s attorneys said in an April statement. “In this country, no one can stop prosecutors from charging a crime. But when you’re accused, you can fight back in the courtroom — and that is exactly what Josh intends to do.”
“They aren’t as close as they once were because of all of Josh’s legal drama,” a source told PEOPLE earlier this year. “It’s creating a lot of stress on them — although the majority of the family is acting like nothing has happened.”
Josh’s latest scandal came six years after the network cancelled the family’s first show,19 Kids and Counting, after a 2006 police investigation was resurfaced revealing that Josh had been accused of molesting five underage girls (including at least two of his sisters) in 2002 and 2003, when he was 14.
Three months later, a massive data hack revealed that Josh was a dues-paying member of Ashley Madison, a cheating website, and he soon confessed to being unfaithful to his wife Anna Duggar and having an addiction to pornography.
After some time in a faith-based rehabilitation center in Illinois, he returned to his family.
Josh is currently staying withthird-party custodiansand is confined to their home via GPS tracking as he awaits hiscriminal trial on Nov. 30.
“Jim Bob always wants to sweep things under the rug,” the source said. “He’s never going to talk about the scandal because it’s bad for business.”
source: people.com
