Candidate spends a week living homeless & marches in gay pride parade to win California governor's race - as a Republican

Neel Kashkari is running a different kind of Republican campaign.

He spent one week over the summer living as a homeless person to bring attention to poverty. He visited an African American church frequented by Democratic politicians to speak with congregants. He marched in a gay pride parade.

These may not be on the bucket list for many Republican candidates, but Kashkari is running for governor in California. And he's trying to change perceptions about his party -- and about him -- as he mounts an uphill battle to unseat Democratic incumbent Jerry Brown this fall.

"I not only want to make major changes in the state, but to open hearts and minds to what Republicans really stand for," Kashkari told FoxNews.com.

He says he's running, in a state decimated by the financial crisis and years of state budget crisis, to "rebuild the middle class in California."

And he brings a unique background to the table. Kashkari is a former aerospace engineer turned investment banker who landed an appointment with the Treasury Department under the George W. Bush administration and later oversaw the financial industry bailout -- before leaving Washington in 2009.

But Democrats aren't buying his brand of outreach. They say what appears to be unconventional campaign tactics -- at least for a Republican -- are nothing but publicity stunts designed to gain leverage in a race he is clearly losing.