Real Housewives Star Tareq Salahi Running For Governor

Tareq Salahi - the man who gained notoriety by gate-crashing a White House party with his 'Real Housewives' star wife Michaele Salahi - says he plans to run for Governor of Virginia. The 42-year-old hit the headlines in 2009 after showing up uninvited to a state dinner with his now estranged television star wife.

The couple - who were featured on the Bravo reality show about wealthy housewives and their husbands - split after Michaele ran off with the Journey rocker NEAL SCHON. Earlier this month, Tareq had filed a $50 million lawsuit against his wife, claiming that she left him for Neal and embarrassed him in the process. The judge didn't take long to throw out the case, with Michaele later telling the Huffington Post, "Oh my gosh, it's just a great sense of relief.Faith really carried us through it, and our love, so when the judge first said it was dismissed, my first reaction in the courtroom was just it's so sad it came to this, but then there is such great relief". Tareq appears to be moving on with his life however, and says he will run as a Republican candidate for the 2013 elections in Virginia, saying in a statement, "I am troubled to see how our current political figureheads continue to waste tax payer dollars!...I'm a big believer in limited government, keeping taxes, regulation and litigation low, and if I do win, everyone is invited to crash the inauguration".

Last year, Tareq had initially claimed his wife had been abducted, before she was photographed backstage at a Journey concert.