Farouk Shami has officially filed for Governor.
“I don’t see the difference in public service and running a big company,” Shami said shortly after filing paperwork at state Democratic headquarters.
“You work with people,” he said. “You build team spirit. You cut down on middle management.”
Shami – now airing TV ads that tout his rags-to-riches story as a Palestinian immigrant who got rich making popular hair-care products – said it would be easy to switch from entrepreneur to state government’s head.
“I am a leader. I am not a dictator,” he said.
Asked if it’s a liability to not have served in elective office, Shami shot back, “I’m a smart man, OK?”
More here and here, with Shami’s press release here from Monday, when he’d originally said he was going to file.
Obviously, I have a preferred candidate in this race, but as long as Shami is in the race, and as long as he has a chance to win, which anyone with $10 million to throw around will have, I’m interested in hearing what he has to say. It’s just that so far it’s been a lot of non-specific mush that doesn’t really give me a whole lot of confidence that he has a clear vision and a plan to carry it out. But we’ll see how it goes.
On a side note, former Shami staffer Jason Stanford writes in the Trib about what it’s like to become an ex-staffer. Check it out.