Clay Aiken was rumored to be considering a run for Congress in North Carolina just a few weeks ago. Now it seems that rumor is far closer to a reality than it was before. The political website The Hill reports that the former American Idol runner up is preparing to throw his hat into the ring against Rep. Renee Ellmers. Aikens’ official campaign launch is expected to take place in February.

North Carolina Democrats reportedly aren’t thrilled with the notion of Clay Aiken running for Congress. They fear that voters won’t take the actor and singer seriously.

“I’m disappointed to see what’s probably going to be a primary now in what’s already a really tough, conservative seat,” one unnamed Democrat said about the likely run. “There’s a candidate already in the race who has a very solid resume. But I guess we’re going to hash it out with a primary now. We’re not real thrilled.”

Clay Aiken is a gay father of a little boy named Parker, who was born via in-vitro fertilization. He is 35 years old. Aiken has been making political commentary on his Twitter account for weeks now. He posted the following on January 15th.

Research + innovation is what NC is all about 2, @barackobama. Although it requires us 2 actually work together unlike the folks in Congress

— Clay Aiken (@clayaiken) January 15, 2014

Former N.C. Commerce Secretary Keith Criscoe is expected to announce his candidacy for the same seat as Clay Aiken, which could potentially spell disaster for the singer. Still his determination and recent advocacy for gay rights and the rights of gay teens has got to speak for something.

Do you think North Carolina is ready to elect a gay man to Congress? Or is the southern state still a bit too conservative for the likes of Clay Aiken just yet?

Image via Wikimedia Commons