The UpshotWhite House party crasher Tareq Salahi running for Virginia governor
Former "Real Housewives of D.C." star and alleged White House party crasher Tareq Salahi announced he is running for governor of Virginia.
"As a Virginia native for the last 42 years, I am troubled to see how our current political figure heads continue to waste tax payer dollars during these difficult economic times!" Salahi said in a statement. "I'm a big believer in limited government, keeping taxes, regulation and litigation low."
Gossip website TMZ has a copy of the official paperwork filed by Salahi on Tuesday. A PDF of the paperwork says Salahi intends to run in the Republican primary.
Salahi and his now-estranged wife Michaele gained notoriety in 2010 after they allegedly crashed a state dinner hosted at the White House.
And while most politicians wait until they're already in office before being accused of a crime, Salahi is taking the opposite route: It was announced on Monday that Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed a lawsuit against Salahi for allegedly scamming visitors to his vineyard.
The lawsuit alleges that Salahi and two of his business entities, Virginia Wine Tourism Inc. and Celebration Entertainment Productions LLC, did not deliver on promised services to their customers and refused to offer refunds when the touring services were not rendered.
However, even without a pending lawsuit, Salahi may not get an actual shot at replacing outgoing Gov. Bob McDonnell. While the next gubernatorial election is scheduled for Nov. 5, 2013, Salahi mistakenly filed "November 6" on his paperwork.
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