‘American Idol’ Singer Clay Aiken to Run for Congress in North Carolina

Photo Credit: REUTERS/LUCY NICHOLSON/FILESFormer “American Idol” singer Clay Aiken said on Wednesday he will run for U.S. Congress as a Democrat in his home state of North Carolina, where he once worked as a special education teacher.

Aiken, 35, is likely to face a tough battle in his efforts to unseat Representative Renee Ellmers, a Tea Party Republican favorite, in the state’s conservative 2nd congressional district.

The entertainer tried to position himself as a political outsider who wants to change Washington by giving a voice to people in need.

“I’m not a politician,” he said in a video on his campaign website. “I don’t ever want to be one.”

Aiken described past challenges he had faced after his mother left his abusive father and worked hard to provide what little she could for his family.

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