Decision Virginia

Salahi passes on GOP convention, will run independent

White House Party Crasher Tareq Salahi has decided against a challenge to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli for the nomination for governor in the upcoming Republican State Convention.  Salahi will instead forge ahead as a Republican, but do so as he calls it "independently".

"Pandering to extremist agendas is alienating voters from both parties," Salahi said in a statement.  "I want to rise above the fray of the career politicians and their partisan agendas and give the people of Virginia a strong voice again."

 

Back in December Salahi told me about the challenge he faced in a GOP convention, which traditionally brings out the die-hard members of the party who generally are the most conservative. At that time his plan was to contend in the convention, but if he was unsuccessful he was ready to carry on as an independent.

"I am in it to win it. I am going to keep my name on the ballot regardless of what happens at the convention," he said.

Salahi needs to collect 10 thousand signatures in order to gain access to the ballot. He is not the only Republican considering an indpendent bid. Lt. Governor Bill Bolling is also still seriously considering a run as an independent.

On the Democratic side, businessman and former DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe appears poised to capture the nomination.

My full interview with Salahi from December can be found below. He talks about how difficult the convention process may be around the 7:45 mark.

  

Salahi's full statement can be found after the jump

Salahi believes reality TV will help his run for governor

There was a short period of time when Tareq Salahi was one of the most talked about people in the world. It wasn't necessarily for good reasons. However Salahi seemed to embrace the attention brought on from his visit to a White House State Dinner. A dinner, he and his then wife Michaela, were not invited to.

Salahi doesn't hide from his infamous rise to prominence, in fact he embraces the attention. During his short visit to the NBC12 studios several staffers lined up to get a picture with him. Not one of them was lining up to get a picture with a candidate for governor, but for a reality TV star.

Salahi is hoping to take that interest in him and parlay it into votes. A task he admits, won't be easy.

Here is our report on his candidacy for NBC12:

RICHMOND (WWBT)-  He may be the most well known candidate in the race for governor but his celebrity has nothing to do with politics. Tareq Salahi is better known as part of the infamous duo that crashed a White House state dinner, but he is serious about being Virginia's next governor.

That White House incident, he and his ex-wife's Michaele stint on the popular reality show "Real Housewives of DC" and then their very public, strange break-up, that included an 80's hair band, have made Salahi a celebrity.

But despite not all of that notoriety being positive, Salahi believes it has actually helped his campaign.

"You can't sneak in to the most well guarded institution in the world," Salahi said of the White House incident, "It just doesn't make se sense."

Salahi contends that he did not thing wrong that night, and once his legal issues were behind him he decided capitalizing on it through reality TV was nothing more than good clean fun.

"Reality TV is what it is," he said. "It is really the modern day soap opera."

And being the star of that soap opera is something Salahi believes has given him a head start on connecting with Virginia voters.

"People were clearly fans of the show or from the White House incident," he said. "But they knew there was more."

That more is a businessman who has served on boards for several governors and worked to pass legislation to help small business. He calls himself a centrist. A Republican who wants to cut taxes and regulation, but is pro-choice on abortion and believes same sex marriage should be legal.

It is a mix he believes voters, some of whom he met Friday night a the Capitol tree lighting, will identify with.

"Knowing who the real Tareq Salahi is," he said.  "Not the one on camera who sometimes has to be a little dramatic on a reality TV show."

An uphill battle perhaps, but one Salahi seems prepared to take on.

read and see the rest of the story on NBC12.com

Our entire interview with Salahi, uncut can be found below: