6 Celebrities Who Tried Politics (And Were Terrible At It)

There’s no shortage of celebrities who have expressed their desire to try their hand at politics and some have succeeded. Ronald Reagan was well-known in Hollywood before he became the President of the United States in 1981 and easily won re-election. There’s also Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was elected as the 38th “Governator” of California from 2003-2011. While both Reagan and Schwarzenegger had respectable careers in office, many other celebs have attempted to serve their country but flopped big time.

Ben Higgins of “The Bachelor” didn’t even make it to the elections when he ran for the House of Representatives in 2016. “I regret that I must withdraw my candidacy. Despite my best efforts to pursue this opportunity in good faith, I recently received information that has made such a pursuit unworkable,” he said in a statement, per ABC News. While Higgins didn’t give a reason as to why he withdrew, he certainly wasn’t the first celebrity to run for office and step away. Whether they just didn’t have what it takes to be a politician, or simply got low ratings, these famous faces proved that public affairs just weren’t for them.

In April 2021, Caitlyn Jenner threw her hat into the ring for governor of California in an attempt to unseat Gavin Newsom, CNN reported. “California has been my home for nearly 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality,” the Republican stated. Unfortunately, Jenner was not the popular choice and received about 1% of the votes, according to People. Newsom, on the other hand, received over five million votes in the recall election. “I can’t believe that this many people actually voted to keep him in office,” the reality star grumbled.

Jenner’s loss was partially attributed to the lack of support from the LGBTQ+ community. Although the Olympic gold medalist is transgender, many felt that her political views didn’t align with theirs. “Make no mistake: we can’t wait to elect a #trans governor of California. But [Jenner] spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her? Hard pass,” Equality California tweeted after Jenner announced her run. Her campaign game was weak as well. Former chair of the California Republican Party, Ron Nehring, told the Los Angeles Times, “Jenner’s catastrophic performances in interviews reflected a lack of seriousness. Caitlyn Jenner wasn’t running for governor. She was doing something, but certainly not running for governor.”

Many remember Stacey Dash as the loveable Dionne from “Clueless,” but she ruined her career when she dipped her toe into politics. The controversial actor has been outspoken about her conservative political views, which she wasn’t afraid to share as a commentator on “Fox News.”In February 2018, Dash hinted at wanting to join the government when she tweeted, “A number of people online and off have suggested I run for political office. I wanted to see what my online community thinks of this idea as I mull the possibilities. Thoughts?” Sure enough, the same month, she entered her name to run for Congress in California District 44, per ABC News.

Not long after, Dash pulled out of the race and stated (via CNN), “I started this run with the intention to address the pressing issues in the district where I live. I hoped, and remain hopeful, that I can assist people living here on the national level.” The actor continued, “At this point, I believe that the overall bitterness surrounding our political process, participating in the rigors of campaigning, and holding elected office would be detrimental to the health and well-being of my family.” Since then, Dash has stepped away from politics and told the Daily Mail that she no longer supports Donald Trump.

When former “Real Housewives of Orange County” star Vicki Gunvalson started dating Steve Lodge in 2016, many fans were hopeful that he would finally be the one to fill up her love tank. With Gunvalson’s support, the former detective shared on Instagram in June 2021, “I am officially announcing that I am running for GOVERNOR of California. I was born and raised in California and spent my adult life here, it was a time when people still called California the Golden State.” He and the reality star seemed pretty promising until Lodge ran and then lost the 2021 race for governor of California. Unfortunately, like his relationship with Gunvalson, his run for office flopped with just 0.2% votes, per The New York Times.

Shortly after his loss, Lodge broke up with Gunvalson just before she was set to film “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Ex-Wives Club.” Fans believed Lodge was just using Gunvalson’s fame to get more votes. “This was never a real relationship. The breakup is BS. I firmly believed they had a mutual arrangement where he played her BF and she helped him get publicity for his ‘political’ career. Does anyone really think Vicki would go without sex for more than a year when all she’s ever talked about is her love tank?” a Reddit user posed. Lodge went on to marry Janis Carlson less than a year later and there’s been no word of him running for office again as of yet.

When Kanye “Ye” West takes the mic at awards shows, you never know what he’ll say and he didn’t disappoint at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. As reported by Politico, the rapper announced that he would be running for president in the 2020 election. When the time came, however, Ye was vastly underprepared and missed the registration deadline in many states. The “Gold Digger” singer soldiered on and dubbed his campaign, “The Birthday Party” with a slogan that said, “YES!” West also didn’t seem to have a plan if he actually won. “I don’t know if I would use the word ‘policy’ for the way I would approach things. I [didn’t] have a policy when I went to Nike and designed Yeezy and went to Louis and designed a Louis Vuitton at the same time. It wasn’t a policy, it was a design,” he shared in an interview (via Forbes).

Despite his best efforts, West received just 60,000 votes from the people of America but stated that he would run in 2024, per People. There won’t be another Birthday Party campaign, though. His lawyer firmly told Rolling Stone, “He’s not a candidate for office in 2024.”

Radio shock jock Howard Stern wanted to add “Governor of New York” to his resumé in 1994 and he actually had a shot at possibly winning. Backed by the Libertarian Party, he officially entered the race and told the crowd (via Reason), “For any of you who had doubts about me. I am dead serious about running. I’m in this to win.” He continued to say, “As I look out on this shining crowd and see all your beautiful faces, I have only one thing to say: It’s amazing they let you people vote.”

While Stern has no problem getting celebrities to spill private details of their lives, when it came to his fiances, he remained tight-lipped. After being required to reveal his finances, the radio personality dropped out of the race. As reported by The New York Times, he stated on his show, “I’ve been telling you about myself since the first day I started broadcasting, there’s only one fact I never revealed. I never told you how much money I made, I never told you how much money I have in the bank. And the reason I never told you how much money I have in the bank is because it’s none of your business.” Perhaps Stern should have considered that before he ran.

After Roseanne Barr sang a horrible rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” in 1990, it was hard to take the comedian seriously so she had a serious uphill battle when she announced her bid for presidency in 2011. During an appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (via the New York Post), she told the host, “I’m not for either party because they both suck and they’re both a bunch of criminals, so I made up my own party — it’s America’s Green Tea Party.” Barr then shared that her goal as prez would be to make marijuana legal and toss out the U.S. monetary system. “Everything will be based on barter and growing and eating vegetables,” she revealed.

Barr later changed her campaign name to the “Peace and Freedom Party,” choosing Cindy Sheehan as her running mate, per the Los Angeles Times. “The American people are sick and tired of this ‘lesser evil’ garbage they get fed every election year,” the “Roseanne” star told the public. She added, “I’m here to tell the voters: if you want to tell the government and the two domineering parties that you’re sick and tired of all their evil, register in the Peace and Freedom Party and vote for me and Cindy.” Barr ultimately came in sixth, with President Barack Obama getting elected for his second term.