Personal Life
Pickering and his former wife, Leisha, have five sons, Will, Ross, Jackson, Asher, and Harper. Pickering announced in June 2008 that he filed for divorce from Leisha in Madison County, citing irreconcilable differences. On July 16, 2009, it was announced that Leisha had filed an alienation of affection lawsuit against Elizabeth Creekmore Byrd, a woman with whom Pickering allegedly had an affair. The lawsuit claimed that the adulterous relationship ruined the Pickerings' marriage and his political career. In a column on July 24, 2009, Cokie and Steve Roberts wrote about the Washington, D.C., Fellowship Foundation at 133 C Street South East, where the trysts allegedly took place. Leisha Pickering, they wrote, "claims that instead of praying, another woman was preying on her husband" there. The Robertses indicated that Leisha Pickering was further motivated to pursue the divorce because her ex-husband's alleged paramour "made Pickering quit Congress just when he might have been appointed to the Senate. We would be surprised if ex-wives have some legal recourse for disappointment over a Senate seat, but hey, Leisha Pickering's going for it."
Pickering is also the cousin of state auditor, Stacey Pickering.
Read more about this topic: Chip Pickering
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