Politics has always been a popularity contest, so it’s no surprise that celebrities have tried to convert their fame into political power.
Some jump in with genuine intentions, hoping to use their influence and resources to help their communities. Others… well, it’s hard not to see the ego at play.
And this phenomenon isn’t unique to the United States. Around the world, beloved entertainers, athletes, and media personalities have stepped out of the spotlight and onto the ballot, aiming to disrupt the status quo or reinvent themselves entirely.
Below is a list of 19 celebrities who’ve run for office. Some won big, others crashed spectacularly, but each one reshaped how we remember them,
1.
Let’s start with the most obvious one: Donald Trump. The former Apprentice host and real estate tycoon had a few attempts to enter office, but none of them were as historic as his 2015 victory against Hillary Clinton, where he won the electoral college but lost the popular vote. And while he ended up losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 election, he defeated Kamala Harris in 2024, and now, we’re stuck with another four years of Trump.
3.
Before Donald Trump and Schwarzenegger, there was Ronald Reagan–a movie star who ascended the ranks of U.S. politics. Funnily enough, he paved the way for both celebrity-turned-politicians and held offices that both Trump and Schwarzenegger occupied. Reagan’s political ambitions started taking shape in the mid-1960s, but it was his 1966 run for Governor of California that proved he wasn’t just dabbling. Per NYT, he won in a landslide and served two full terms. That success set the stage for his 1980 presidential campaign, where he defeated Jimmy Carter and later won re-election in a massive 49-state sweep.
4.
Sex And The City star Cynthia Nixon didn’t end up in office, but her impact was so strong that they dubbed it the “Cynthia Effect.” Nixon ran for the Democratic nomination for the Governor of New York in 2018, where she faced off against Andrew Cuomo. She took on extremely progressive policies, such as higher taxes on the rich, that her supporters claimed forced Cuomo towards appeasing the more deeply left-leaning Democratic voters. Mind you, Cuomo’s team has denied it on the campaign trail, though there were certain policy announcements that felt like responses to Nixon’s attacks.
5.
Ye, f.k.a. Kanye West, also tried running for president but failed miserably. He first announced his intention to run during the 2015 VMAs but made it official on Independence Day in 2020. He ran outside of the two-party system, launching the Birthday Party with a primarily faith-based platform. Ultimately, he was only qualified on 12 state ballots and only received 60,000 votes out of 160 million.
6.
Former NFL star and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker entered politics by running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2022. His athletic background, along with an endorsement from Donald Trump, helped propel his campaign, though he ultimately lost to the Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock. However, he still found himself in a political position a few years later, with Trump nominating Walker as the U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas.
7.
Melissa Gilbert became a household name through her role as Laura Ingalls on Little House On The Prairie. But in 2015, she announced that she was running for Congress as a Democrat. Gilbert’s campaign focused on helping working families in Michigan. However, she later ended her campaign due to health issues.
9.
There’s a clear pattern of reality television stars running for office, and it’s certainly not limited to the Republican Party. American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken saw some success in 2014 in his bid for Congress when he won the Democratic nomination, though he lost the general election shortly after. In 2022, he ran as a Democrat again in North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, but once again lost.
10.
Jesse Ventura went from the WWE (then WWF) to making history as the Governor of Minnesota. His political career began in 1990 when he ran for the Mayor of Brooklyn Park, MN, which he won as an independent. He then served as the 38th Governor of Minnesota, becoming the Reform Party’s only candidate to win any government office ever.
11.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s tenure as the president of Ukraine could not have been any more trying. He developed a name as a comedian in Ukraine who starred in the satirical TV series, Servant of the People, in which his character accidentally becomes the president of Ukraine. But after winning the election in 2019, he actually became the president and has since been navigating the country through its war with Russia.
12.
Although one of the greatest boxers of all time, Manny Pacquiao also has an accomplished career as a politician. He was elected to the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 2010 until 2016, when he was elected as a senator. In 2022, he ran for the Philippine presidential election and lost before bowing out of politics altogether in 2025 after a failed campaign for the Senate election.
13.
Back in 2010, Wyclef Jean tried to run to become Haiti’s president, though his efforts were thwarted by election officials. Born in Haiti, the musician and rapper carved his path in the U.S. through a fruitful solo career and as a member of the Fugees. He eventually became a United Nations goodwill ambassador for Haiti. However, without a reason, he was disqualified from running as president. Jean cited electoral laws in the country as the potential reason for his disqualification since Haiti requires any candidate to be a resident in the country for five consecutive years, as reported by The Guardian.
14.
Former adult film star Ilona “Cicciolina” Staller transitioned into politics in Italy. She was elected to the Italian Parliament in 1987 with the Radical Party, and continued to build an impressive political resumé afterward, although somewhat controversial, too (i.e., she offered to sleep with Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin to achieve peace). She launched the Love Party with Moana Pozzi in 1991 and, in 2020, launched DNA (Democracy, Nature and Love).
15.
Former Bad Boy rapper Shyne (Moses Michael Levi Barrow) reinvented himself in Belizean politics. After serving prison time in the U.S. for a nightclub shooting involving Diddy and J.Lo, he was elected to the Belize House of Representatives in 2020 for the United Democratic Party. He later became the Opposition Leader in Belize’s House. However, he has since lost his seat in the House of Representatives following the 2025 election.
16.
Roseanne Barr’s political views have been nothing short of controversial in recent years, but at one point, she had plans to run for the Oval Office. Per LAist, She lost the bid for the Green Party to Jill Stein in 2012 and then ran on the Peace & Freedom Party ticket with a socialist platform that focused on healthcare, cannabis legalization, and abortion rights.
17.
Shirley Temple Black was one of Hollywood’s most successful child actors, but how she maneuvered her way into a political career afterward is just as impressive. In 1967, she ran for Congress in California in a campaign that could’ve made her the first woman in the state’s congressional delegation.
19.
And finally, before Jerry Springer’s name was attached to paternity tests, he made strides in politics. First, he ran as a Democrat in the House of Representatives. He lost but was later elected as the Cincinnati City Council in 1971, then resigned in 1974 because he was involved in a prostitution investigation. And while he returned to the Council afterward, he later served as the mayor of Cincinnati for a year.
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