Clay Aiken Talks Gay Marriage Views And Coming Out

"American Idol" veteran Clay AIken spoke to HuffPost Live this week about his decision to run for office in his home state.

The openly gay Aiken, who is running for one of North Carolina's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, has previously expressed his support for same-sex marriage. Still, he insisted that it was "not the issue" that he's running on.

"It's not why I'm in this race," Aiken, 35, noted. "It's not an issue that's really on the radar for most people in the second district of North Carolina. It's not something that effects people's daily lives."

He also recalled his decision to come out in 2008, years after his "American Idol" tenure in 2003.

"When it comes to an issue like that, that's a personal path for every single person," he said. "It's very different for me than it was for Neil Patrick Harris ... I don't second-guess anyone's decision to do it when they do it."