DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Carlton Rahmani is running for governor as a write-in candidate this year in Arizona. Rahmani's slogan is "What's the worst I can do?"

Not many candidates for governor hold their fundraising rallies in a bar.

History senior Carlton Rahmani isn't your typical gubernatorial candidate.

After becoming disillusioned with Arizona politics and the gubernatorial race in particular, Rahmani recently declared his write-in candidacy for governor.

He's running on a pro-business, pro-solar energy, progressive, Republican platform that includes a plan to fund public education through a formula based on the price of beer.

"I was considering the gubernatorial candidates and I was really unimpressed with them," the 27-year-old history major said.

To get the word out about his campaign, Rahmani organized a rally Sunday night at 7 Black Cats, 260 E. Congress St., but it never opened and he was unable to raise any money at the event.

"(The bar) didn't open up at all, so I put Îshow cancelled' signs over the thing," said Rahmani. "It's disappointing but it's not atypical."

Nonetheless, the self-proclaimed Republican is going to give fundraising another try tomorrow from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Gentle Ben's, 865 E. University Blvd., where he will try to communicate his self-described blend of progressivism and conservatism.

"You can still be conservative and have progressive ideas," Rahmani said, as he pledged to support mom and pop businesses and small companies. "We are losing our indigenous culture to corporations and a bunch of people moving into the state that don't care about the state."

Though Rahmani's bid for governor is sincere, not everyone thinks he's a viable candidate.

"Is this person delusional? It's not going to happen," said Peter Goudinoff, a political science lecturer who served in the Arizona Legislature for two decades. "There are nuts running for office all the time."

Unlikely candidates have won before, he said, "but this is a joke."

Besides the promotion of local business, another of Rahmani's ideas involves what he refers to as the "solar economy." This plan involves the use of low-interest loans to private homeowners who agree to use solar power.

These homes would still be able to use standard energy forms when needed, but would get the majority of their power from the sun.

"In Arizona, the greatest resource is the sun," Rahmani said. "It is never lacking and it can actually generate enough electricity for a house without a battery."

Rahmani also proposes "A-Beer-or-a-Brain" tax, which would amount to roughly the price of one beer per month for each taxpayer to help fund public education.

A bake sale every weekend at the state capitol would serve a similar purpose.

"If the people see how important proper funding for education is to the governor, and how much of his own time he is willing to invest in it, they will also be willing to share in the cause," Rahmani said in a press release.

However, despite his ideas, Rahmani said he knows his chances of defeating Democrat Janet Napolitano and Republican Matt Salmon are slim-to-none. Instead, he hopes to get his message out and to stick out the campaign until its end.