AUSTIN, Texas -- Houston haircare tycoon Farouk Shami filed the paperwork making his run for governor official.
For the first time he spoke about the details of his platform. He also talked candidly about the role race will play in his bid to be Texas' next governor.
The Palestinian-born candidate was able to draw-out dozens of supporters as he filed election paperwork at Democratic Party headquarters in downtown Austin.
It is his 67th birthday, so his supporters serenaded him with "happy birthday" in English and Las Mañanitas in Spanish.
That range of sentiment underscores the supporters Shami draws are loyal, loud, and, he hopes, representative of an increasingly diverse Texas electorate.
"Minorities have been ignored, we will rise to the level, they will rise to the level, they want to be part of this future government of the state of Texas," Shami told KVUE News. "We have a black president and it's time for a brown governor."
Shami wants to be the 48th governor of Texas. If he wins his party's primary, and defeats the incumbent governor or the state's senior senator, he'd be the first governor with a family name that's not European or Anglo.
If enough Texans agree that Shami should be governor, he says jobs will be job-one.
"We will create jobs, for everybody who needs jobs," he insisted.
Shami explained he'll use tax dollars from the Texas enterprise fund to spur the manufacture and installation of solar panels and other green jobs around Texas.
He says jobs created, in turn, will allow the state to lower taxes, and cap tuition at public colleges and universities.
Shami explained that jobs could also be the answer to illegal immigration on the Texas-Mexico Border.
"I will encourage business people to open businesses on the border and we will encourage the Mexicans to open businesses on their side," he said.
Shami pledged he would not send Texas rangers to the border, something Gov. Rick Perry has done.
Shami also criticized Gov. Perry’s decision not to accept millions of dollars in stimulus aid from Washington.
He argues that has created a heavier burden on small businesses making it harder for them to create new jobs.
