Rep. Jeff Duncan a Republican congressman from South Carolina who promotes himself as a staunch advocate for “traditional family values” had multiple affairs and left his family to live with a mistress, his wife said in divorce papers.
Melody Duncan accused her husband of having multiple extramarital affairs during their 34-year marriage and leaving their marital home to live with a mistress who is identified as Liz Williams, a lobbyist with the lobbying firm Liz Williams and Co., in Washington D.C.
Duncan allegedly admitted his affair with Williams to Melody and “to many other people, including the parties’ sons and members of his staff,” the filing said.
But, on the campaign trail Duncan played the role of a doting husband. At the 12th annual “Faith and Freedom BBQ” last month Duncan described Melody as a “supportive and loving wife.”
The next day, Duncan left their home and “went directly to the home of his paramour, Liz Williams, in the Washington DC area, where [Melody] is informed and believes he continues to reside,” court documents say.
Duncan was elected to Congress in 2011. He has been married to Melody since 1988. The couple has three adult children together.
Duncan touts himself as “a strong advocate for life and traditional family values” on his website.
“The most basic component of our society is the family. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we protect the values that America was founded upon and have made our country great,” Duncan wrote. “I am a proud member of the Values Action Team because of my desire to protect family values.”
According to the complaint, Melody believes Duncan may have had affairs with at least one other woman, and this is “widely known in political circles of South Carolina and Washington D.C.”
The filing says Duncan presented a narrative of being in a loveless marriage “to justify the hypocrisy of his public statements and his private actions.”
Melody’s filing was first reported by the South Carolina Index-Journal.