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There’s often a fine line between celebrity and politics — just ask Arnold Schwarzenegger.
These A-listers may have started off in showbiz, but some of them went on to become presidents and mayors… while others have only floated the idea of someday running for office.
Keep reading to find out more…
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Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan truly set the blueprint for the celeb-to-politician pipeline. As you probably already know, our 40th president began his adult life as a Hollywood actor, appearing in movies of the ’40s and ’50s, including Kings Row and The Winning Team.
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Cynthia Nixon
Possibly the most glamorous entry on this list,And Just Like That actress Cynthia Nixon famously ran for New York governor in 2018 as a Democrat, though she ended up losing the primary.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger is very much of the Ronald Reagan school of Hollywood actor to major Republican politician. Having risen to extreme fame as the lead in the Terminator franchise, Schwarzenegger served as governor of California between 2003 and 2011.
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Donald Trump
As we all know, President Donald Trump was famous for decades before he arrived at the White House. He was known for being a socialite, businessman, TV personality and occasional cameo actor.
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Ben Savage
Ben Savage is known for playing the lead in the Disney Channel TV show Boy Meets World in the ’90s, but in 2023, he ran for Congress in California as a Democrat — though he didn’t end up winning.
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Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey has not not considered running for Texas governor, but at the time of writing, he has never launched a campaign. Speaking of the possibility in a 2025 interview with People, the actor said, “It’s something I started looking into probably six years ago and something I’ve continued to study what that arena is, what it would mean, how could I be useful in it, would I be useful in it?”
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Clay Aiken
American Idol star Clay Aiken ran for election as a U.S. House representative in North Carolina back in 2022, but unfortunately lost out in the Democratic primary.
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Anson Williams
Anson Williams, the actor best known for Happy Days, put his hat in the ring for mayor of Ojai, Calif., back in 2022, running as a non-politician. Talking about his decision to run in The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “I really became perturbed at the division I saw happening in Ojai.” Williams ended up losing the race by a close margin.
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Jim Bob Duggar
The patriarch of the Duggar clan, Jim Bob Duggar, served as a Republican State Representative in Arkansas in the late ’90s and early 2000s. However, when he sought election as a State Senator in 2021, he lost in the party’s primary.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz
Dr. Mehmet Oz was America’s favorite TV doctor for years before he became a government official in the Trump administration. Oz also ran as a Republican for U.S. Senator in Pennsylvania back in 2022, losing out to Democrat John Fetterman.
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Kid Rock
Kid Rock has made no secret of his unyielding support for Donald Trump, but the singer has also seemingly had some political aspirations of his own, having previously mentioned running for senator and for president — but he has never launched a campaign.
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Caitlyn Jenner
Caitlyn Jenner is a controversial figure (for proof, just see her extremely awkward encounter with Lady Gaga circa 2022), so it’s perhaps not all that surprising that she lost her run for governor of California in the 2021 recall election. The TV personality came in 13th with 1 percent of the votes.
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Ben Higgins
The Bachelor’s Ben Higgins tried to run as a Republican state representative in Denver circa 2016, but ultimately withdrew his candidacy within days of beginning his campaign. Looking back on that time in 2021, Higgins said, “The Republican party looked a lot different back then than it does today. I’m not naive to that. In fact, I’m an unaffiliated voter at this point because I no longer align with the complete Republican agenda, especially when it comes to the way we speak about humans and the way social issues are discussed.”
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Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson
There has been so much talk about Moana actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson potentially running for president over the years. As of yet? No campaign. In 2023, Johnson revealed that several parties had asked him to run and considered him a potentially very serious candidate, but the Hollywood star had no interest at the time. “My goal has never been to be in politics. As a matter of fact, there’s a lot about politics that I hate,” he said. Still, never say never.
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Shaquille O’Neal
Basketball legend, TV star, musician and DJ Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal is an unlikely political candidate, given that he admitted to voting for the first time in his life in 2020 at the age of 48. However, back in 2017, O’Neal had teased wanting to run for sheriff, and he’s since openly supported Donald Trump, so a future political campaign may not be totally out of the question.
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Shirley Temple
In what amounted to quite the career pivot, original child star Shirley Temple — who in the 1930s delighted audiences in Hollywood movies and eventually gave her name to a famous mocktail — soon went on to become a politician and diplomat. She ran as a Republican for the U.S. House in 1967, unsuccessfully, and served as an ambassador to both Ghana and Czechoslovakia, per Politico.
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Wyclef Jean
Back in 2010, the Haitian-born rapper Wyclef Jean tried to run for president of Haiti, but his bid was turned down. He clearly remained interested in politics, though, weighing in on the Donald Trump presidency back in 2017.
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Howard Stern
The famous radio interviewer Howard Stern has had a bit of a rocky relationship with politics over the years. He was much more right-wing in the ’90s, and even ran for New York governor in 1994 as a Libertarian, but these days, he describes his politics as “woke.” In 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Stern claimed he would run for president.
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Clint Eastwood
Legend of western cinema Clint Eastwood became mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., in 1986, winning his election by a landslide in a major voter turnout. He served for two years and did not seek re-election.
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Jerry Springer
You probably know Jerry Springer as a talk show host, but the celeb also served as mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, between 1977 and 1978.
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Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert launched a joke presidential campaign in 2008, but that doesn’t mean people don’t consider him a viable option. Asked about it in 2025, ahead of his show ending, Colbert expressed that running for president wouldn’t be a good idea. “I understand why you’d want me to,” he said. “I’d have to discuss with my faith leader and my family to see if, once my service on the Late Show ends in May, if I could be of some greater service to this nation that I love so much.”
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Farrah Abraham
Teen Mom alum Farrah Abraham announced her run for mayor of Austin in 2026… even though the election was actually scheduled for 2028. Oops! Upon learning of her mistake, she understandably withdrew her “candidacy.” Instead, she chose to pursue a seat on the city council.
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Kanye West
Over the last few years, Kanye West has aligned himself closely with Donald Trump’s politics. However, he ran for president against Trump in 2020, and again announced his candidacy in 2024, though he didn’t end up going through with it.
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Roseanne Barr
Comedian Roseanne Barr ran for president in 2012 as the Peace and Freedom Party candidate. Of course, she lost out to Barack Obama (and Mitt Romney and Jill Stein).
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