Clay Aiken will officially file for his run at a congressional seat in North Carolina Thursday morning. On Wednesday evening, the Idolalum tweeted his intentions to file, along with a solicitation to donate funds to his campaign.
In a follow-up tweet, Aiken said his campaign has set a goal to raise $20,000 this week, adding: “Excited to file in the morning. Stand with me if you can.”
Aiken is running for the House of Representatives seat in North Carolina’s second district, looking to unseat second-term Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers. Ellmers, who also serves as chairwoman of the Republican Women’s Policy Committee, won the seat in 2010, which had long been held by a Democrat.
Clay Aiken Announces Run for Congress
Rumors about Aiken’s plans to run for Congress first surfaced in January, but he didn’t comment on them until releasing a campaign video on his website on Feb. 5. In the video (below), he said, “I’m not a politician. I don’t ever want to be one, but I do want to help bring back — at least to my corner of North Carolina — the idea someone can go to Washington to represent all the people, whether they voted for you or not.”
He went on to say that Ellmers had good intentions when she went to Washington, but later voted for legislation that was against the interests of North Carolina military families.
For her part, Ellmers was quick to dismiss the Aiken candidacy. In a local radio interview a few days later, she noted, “As we know, he doesn’t always fare that well. He was runner-up [on American Idol].”
Aiken will likely face at least two challengers in the Democratic primary, including Keith Crisco, a former North Carolina commerce secretary.
Watch the Aiken’s video announcing his candidacy below.
- This article originally appeared in THR.com.