Clay Aiken Could Be the First Idol-American in Congress
Clay Aiken, the runner-up from season 2 of American Idol, holds a slim lead in his Democratic Congressional primary against former North Carolina Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco this morning. Aiken is ahead by just 372 votes with all precincts already reporting, leaving the race too close to call.
The winner will face the incumbent, Tea Party Republican Renee Ellmers, in November's general election.
If Aiken loses, he'll have completed a trifecta of near-misses: His Idol finish, a second place result on Celebrity Apprentice, and an extremely close second in this congressional race. Although, to be fair to Aiken, producers later blamed his Idol loss on a broken voting system.
Aiken's platform includes raising the minimum wage, passing better health benefits for veterans, subsidizing small farms, and being really good at singing Elton John covers. Prior to his career as a reality TV star, he was a special education teacher.
His political experience includes Celebrity Apprentice.
[Photo: AP Images]