Top 10 celebrities who ran for political office

Action film star and reserve deputy sheriff Steven Seagal has announced that he is thinking about running for governor of Arizona.

Seagal broke the news while promoting his new reality TV show, Steven Seagal — Lawman: Maricopa County.

Seagal became famous in the late 80s and early 90s playing the lead macho role in films such as Above the Law, Hard to Kill and Under Siege.

The actor noted that he feels border security is the most important issue facing the country. Border security is of course a hot-button issue in Arizona and has been for several years.

Could this announcement just be a publicity stunt to get his name out there before his show airs? Sure, but celebrities running for office is nothing new. Many have ran for and won the coveted political seats, while others did not win voters over with their politics.

Either way, it got us thinking about the most memorable celebrities who have ran. Here is our Top 10 list:

10. Levi Johnston

Even though we may not want to remember, the name Levi Johnston is still etched in our minds.

During Sarah Palin’s 2008 campaign with John McCain, Johnston was introduced to the world when it became known that he fathered Palin’s grandson.

After he and Sarah’s daughter Bristol broke up, Johnston tried to keep himself in the headlines by doing several television interviews about the Palin family and even posed for Playgirl in 2009.

Recently, he announced the he was going to run for office claiming that if Palin can do it anybody can.
9. Wyclef Jean

Rapper and former member of the 90’s Grammy-winning trio The Fugees, Wyclef Jean came to the U.S. from Haiti when he was a child.

As an adult, he became an activist for the country and after the devastating earthquake in 2010, he stepped that up by running for president.

Jean was later disqualified from running by Haitian officials, because he was not a resident of the country.
8. Jerry Springer
Long-time talk show host Jerry Springer, did the reverse and started out in politics.

He moved to Cincinnati and ran for Congress in 1990, but lost that bid. A year later he won a seat on the city council.

He resigned from that office in 1974 after it came out that he tried to pay a prostitute with a check. Yes, you read that correctly.

In 1977, however, he was elected as the mayor of Cincinnati. He went on to run for governor of Ohio, but lost that election before landing his own talk show.
7. Shirley Temple Black

Possibly the most famous child star of all time, Shirley Temple, started acting at the age of three and after immense popularity, left the film industry in her teens.

Temple returned to show business years after her retirement and became the recipient of many awards including Kennedy Center Honors and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

Under her married name, Shirley Temple Black she dabbled in politics and unsuccessfully ran for congress in 1967. In 1969, then President Nixon appointed her as ambassador to the United Nations.

She was also the U.S. ambassador to Ghana from 1974 to 1976 and ambassador to the former Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992.

6. Sonny Bono

One half of the popular television variety show duo, Sonny Bono had a career that spanned over three decades.

He was best known for starring on the Sonny and Cher Show in the 60s and 70s. As well as his marriage to his co-host.

In 1988, Bono was elected mayor of Palm Springs in California. He later ran for the California Senate and lost. He went on to run for Congress and won as the California representative for the state’s 44th Congressional District.

Bono died three years into that term in a skiing accident.

5. Al Franken

The funny man was one of the original Saturday Night Live writers and performers from 1975 to 1980. After a five-year hiatus, he returned to the show as a writer and occasional performer.

Post-SNL, Al Franken authored four New York Times best-sellers.

He declared his candidacy for Senate in 2007 and in a very tight race defeated incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman. Franken became a junior United States Senator for Minnesota in 2009.

4. Clint Eastwood

Mega film star and director, Clint Eastwood has made his political views known for years. Perhaps the most memorable time was at Republican National Convention in 2012. Eastwood used an empty seat as a prop and acted as if he were speaking to President Barack Obama.

Before the disastrous chair incident, Eastwood was the mayor of Carmel, California, from 1986 to 1988.

In 2001, he was appointed to the State Park and Recreation Commission.

However, he was not reappointed in 2008 after he disagreed with then governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposals.

3. Jesse Ventura

Many remember Jesse "The Body" Ventura before he became a politician and was a star wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation in the early 80s. After his retirement he worked as an announcer for the WWF from 1985 to 1990.

In 1991, he was elected the mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota and when his term ended he became the governor of the state, serving from 1999 to 2003.

Ventura did not run for re-election in order to pursue other endeavors.

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger

One of the most famous and memorable celebrities to ever run for office just may have been Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger started out his career as a body-builder, but later lit up the big-screen with box-office hits The Terminator, Total Recall and True Lies.

The film star ran for Governor of the state California in 2003 and won. He won a second term in 2006.

While in office he gained the nickname “The Governator,” which was a play on The Terminator movie title.

1. Ronald Reagan

Even though Schwarzenegger had a much more successful film career than Ronald Reagan, the once-upon-a-time leading man, held a much higher office.

Reagan tops our list for holding the highest possible seat in the nation when he was elected president in 1980.

Long before that though, he held the same seat Schwarzenegger would hold years later, when he was elected governor of California.

Reagan had a very successful first term during his presidency and was re-elected to a second term four years later.