Politics | state dinner crashers Virginia's Latest House Candidate: Tareq Salahi Virginia is apparently for gatecrashers By Polly Davis Doig Posted Dec 25, 2013 12:10 PM CST Copied Jose Canseco, right, and Tareq Salahi exchange blows during the "Celebrity Fight Night" on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, in Hollywood. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu) Tareq Salahi, the guy whose wife tossed him over for a chance at pay-per-view love and glory with a washed-up '80s guitarist, has a new object of his affections: Virginia's 10th congressional district. Virginians may recall Salahi from his tragic failed bid last year to become the commonwealth's governor; the rest of you may recall him from that whole awful State Dinner thing, or, heaven help you, as a mister on Real Housewives of DC. Regardless of his lurid past, Salahi tells Politico that he's now a Serious Person: "This is really about me going back to my love and my passion of Virginia and my political roots I had long before my reality television career." Furthermore: "Reality TV was a job. I got paid to do that. A lot of people don’t put that together. 'Oh, you're quasi-acting? I didn’t realize you were getting paid to be on reality TV.' The real me is what I used to do before reality TV." Read These Next Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. Some of the most explosive Diddy allegations are dropped. Fan who taunted Ketel Marte's mom has been banned by MLB. NJ lifeguard survives after being impaled by an umbrella. Report an error