We all remember Clay as the amazing singer who finished second during American Idol‘s 2003 televised contest, but now he’s in the running for something else – Congress in North Carolina.
In a video that the 35-year-old posted to his Clay Aiken for North Carolina website, he had this to say:
“I’ve been fortunate in my life and if you only know the part of my story that begins with a golden ticket, something that still seems unbelievable to me even until this day, you might wonder what qualifies me to run.”
In the very personal video, Clay goes on to describe a childhood riddled with domestic violence, poverty, and more. Clay describes running away to a friend’s house – where he and his mom lived on the living room floor – in order to…
“escape from my father … a violent man who would get drunk and angry. I saw later, when I was older, pictures of her bruised face and blackened eyes in police photographs.”
He goes on to say:
“For most Americans, there are no golden tickets. At least not like the kind you see on TV. More families are struggling today than at any time in our history. And here in North Carolina, we’ve suffered more than our share of pain.”
Clay is running for the Democratic nomination. We wish him the best of luck! Check out his first campaign video below:
SOURCE: Clay Aiken | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
