An underdog in the race for governor, Farouk Shami will go anywhere for votes.

JACK PLUNKETT/The Associated Press

Farouk Shami, shown in December, says he is the man 'that will lead the way to change' in Texas. But the Democrat's gubernatorial campaign hasn't picked up much fanfare.

And judging from the dynamics of the Democratic primary, he'll have to.

He pitched his campaign to a bustling meeting Thursday of the Dallas County Democratic Party's Executive Committee. There, he accepted bottom billing amid a horde of local candidates more interested in drawing for favorable ballot positions than listening to Shami's call for support.

By the end of his rambling, forceful speech, he had veteran Democrats whooping and applauding his words, even though many later conceded they didn't believe in his candidacy.

"I'm the man that will lead the way to change," he said. "I love Democrats."

Shami, a hair products tycoon from Houston, is casting himself as a business-savvy everyman who will bring jobs to Texas and shoo away career politicians.

Before he can get to either incumbent Rick Perry or Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, both running for the GOP nomination, he must stop former Houston Mayor Bill White, considered the Democratic front-runner.

"It is time for change, and people are tired of what Republicans have done for our state," he said. "We are the Democratic Party who believes in everybody and gets everybody together. Farouk Shami is the only man who can beat the Republicans."

Shami has his supporters, such as Peter Johnson, a minister who marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Johnson said Shami's victory would rest not with the party establishment on hand Thursday, but by voters often ignored in campaigns.

"Farouk can win if he organizes and reaches out to communities that have been invisible," he said. "It's not impossible. He's talking about issues they care about."

Without fanfare, Shami met on Friday with a group of West Dallas ministers, one of many events he attends outside of the political mainstream.

But most of the Democrats at the local Communications Workers of American union hall Thursday night were White supporters.

"You have to have an organization or a proven coalition," said Dallas Democrat Michael Moon. "You just can't come out of nowhere and expect to win."

James White, a Dallas precinct chairman, said Shami has a good message, but White is the real deal, giving "us the best chance to win."

Shami is trying to parlay his hair care business success into a successful campaign.

"I'm the man who brought over 1,000 jobs from South Korea and China to Houston," he said.

He then alluded to his revolutionary product, a flat-shaped curling iron called the Chi that many women swear by.

"Lots of ladies know me as the Chi man," he said. "How many ladies know the Chi down here, lots of them, right?"

Several women yelled in approval when he mentioned his product. One judicial candidate asked, "He's the man with the Chi?" as another woman looked in her bag, presumably to find one.

Though he's short on details, Shami says he'll bring "100,000 jobs for all the people of Texas."

And he said he'll focus on developing green energy and green jobs.

"We want to go to every poor area, every depressed area and open a community factory that will hire hundreds of people and install solar panels in all the homes of the state of Texas," he said.

His message to state businesses: "Bring jobs back or get out of Texas."

And he told Democrats not to worry about the sound of his name.

"I might be different in name, but my name is not stranger than President [Barack] Obama," he said.