By CNN Political Unit
(CNN) – Famed White House party crasher Tareq Salahi has his sights set on crashing the governor’s mansion in Virginia.
This time he plans to gain legitimate entrance as he is considering a candidacy for governor of the Old Dominion.
Best known for showing up uninvited to a state dinner in 2009 with his now-estranged wife and “Real Housewives of D.C.” star Michaele, Salahi announced his intention in a written statement from his spokesman.
“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! I’m a big believer in limited government, keeping taxes, regulation and litigation low,” Salahi said in the statement.
According to an application his spokesman sent to CNN, Salahi would run as a Republican.
The application, however, has an error, as Salahi filled in the wrong date for the November 5, 2013 election. His application says November 6.
As of late Wednesday morning, the State Board of Elections in Virginia has not yet received a declaration of candidacy from Salahi, a board spokesman confirmed.
The candidate form is generally not filed until January 1, 2013, at the earliest, Justin Riemer, the spokesman, noted.
He added the form must also be filed with petitions, signed by 10,000 registered voters in the state with a minimum of 400 from each of Virginia’s 11 congressional districts.
This wouldn’t be Salahi’s first time in the public realm. He served on Virginia’s Tourism Board from 2006 until the end of 2009, when then-Gov. Tim Kaine asked Salahi to resign after the White House incident.
Prior to his time on the tourism board, Salahi held a spot on the Virginia Winery Board, as his family, which owns several vineyards, had long been a major player in the state’s wine industry. But the business fell on hard times, apparently under his and his wife’s stewardship, resulting in a couple lawsuits and the bankruptcy of both the vineyard and the family’s company.
Michaele recently drew headlines for a relationship with Journey guitarist Neal Schon. Salahi filed a missing persons report in September and appeared in tearful television interviews, claiming his wife had been kidnapped. The following day, however, Michaele confirmed she had been on the road with Schon.
Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican attorney general of Virginia, and the state’s lieutenant governor Bill Boiling, are also running to replace current Gov. Bob McDonnell when his term expires.
In his statement Wednesday, Salahi’s spokesman Eric Miller took a shot at Cuccinelli, saying the attorney general had wasted “huge sums of tax payer dollars on witch hunt type investigations,” including a lawsuit Cuccinelli filed this week against Salahi over wine tour complaints.
Campaign finance records show Salahi has donated to both Republicans and Democrats.
