Tareq Salahi Enters Virginia Governor's Race

Tareq Salahi, who became famous after allegedly going to a White House dinner party without an invitation in 2009, kicked off his campaign to crash the Virginia Governorship last week.

Salahi is calling his campaign “Crash the Vote,” a reference to the stunt he pulled with his wife at the time, Michaele Salahi, when they slunk past secret service agents and into a White House dinner party for India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Salahis have stayed in the spotlight since. Michaele appeared on the Bravo reality TV series The Real Housewives of D.C. in 2010, and the two filed for what became a messy divorce in September 2011.

Georgetowner Carol Joynt interviewed the couple in 2010 after the White House incident and while they were participating in the Real Housewives filming.

Salahi officially began his campaign with a cookout this past weekend at his home in Linden, according to the Loudoun Times.

The Loudoun Times reports that Salahi, a winemaker and former owner of Oasis Winery in Hume, Va., supports American troops, employment for Virginia residents and limiting the role of government in business.

Film crews were present at the event and documentary about the campaign, "In It To Win It," could air after the 2013 campaign. In a press release announcing the documentary, Salahi said, "I’m at a point in my life where I want to make a difference beyond what I was able do for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Wolf Trap and the three Virginia Governors I have already served. Being the next Governor of Virginia will do just that."

Salahi served on the Virginia Wine Board under Gov. Jim Gilmore; he served as chairman of the Virginia Wine Tourism Office under Gov. Mark Warner; and, he was a board member of the Virginia Tourism Corporation under Gov. Tim Kaine.

CrashTheVote.com redirects to Salahi's Facebook-based campaign website. 

Others have also officially or unofficially thrown their hats into the Virginia governor's race, including Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Democratic National Committee chairperson Terry McAuliffe.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, his campaign headquarters office is in Arlington.