The most interesting mayor in America is now Glenn Jacobs — aka Kane.
The 51-year-old has had a journey into politics almost as unusual as that of the current sitting president.
Jacobs is most well-known as his alter ego, Kane, the name he wrestled under in the WWE. At one point his character was described as a burn victim pyromaniac who feuded with his fictional brother, The Undertaker.
Ridiculous? Yes! But stories like this helped make Jacobs one of the WWE’s most respected and beloved performers.
Jacobs was also one of the few professional wrestlers to move successfully into the medium of film. His acting credits include “See No Evil,” “MacGruber,” “See No Evil 2,” and “Countdown.” He was the top-billed star in both “See No Evil” and “See No Evil 2,” the latter of which became a praised genre film from the directing duo known as the Soska Sisters.
As if acting and wrestling weren’t enough, Jacobs moved into the insurance game in recent years. He opened Jacobs Insurance Associates in Tennessee recently with his wife, transitioning from the acting game to the small-business game.
As for politics, Jacobs has been outspoken and involved for years. He’s actually one of the best-known libertarians in the country.
He endorsed former Texas Rep. Ron Paul for president in the 2008 presidential election and was involved with groups such as the Free State Project and Ludwig von Mises Institute, a think tank that promotes the Austrian school of economics.
He has named Ron Paul, John Stossel, Peter Schiff, and other libertarian leaders as influences on his political thought.
Though he’d been asked to enter politics over the years, Jacobs resisted the urge and didn’t jump into a run for mayor in Knox County, Tennessee, until after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election.
“People are just fed up,” Jacobs told Independent Journal Review earlier this year. “I think just overwhelmingly people are tired of career politicians at every level of government.”
He added, “I think even if you look at the presidential election, it was really a referendum against the political Establishment.”
Jacobs is an open supporter of the president and said multiple times he was waiting on the results of the last presidential election to make a decision on whether to run for office.
— Glenn Jacobs (@GlennJacobsTN) April 8, 2018
Last year he announced his candidacy, and many scoffed at the idea of a pro-wrestler running for president. But remember — the last time people laughed off a pro-wrestler’s political ambitions, his name was Jesse Ventura, and he went on to become the 38th governor of Minnesota.
Jacobs eventually defied the odds and became the candidate for the Republican Party in the mayoral race; his victory was announced after Thursday’s vote. He will be sworn into office on September 1 of this year.
It’s easy to laugh at the idea of a pro wrestler holding major political office, but any interview with Jacobs will convince people the man knows that of which he speaks. He believes in individual liberty and can go toe-to-toe with just about anyone when it comes to fiscal economic policies.
Jacobs is not the only unlikely candidate for political office partly inspired by Donald J. Trump. Other Trump-supporting artists such as Antonio Sabato Jr. have announced runs for political office. Singer Joy Villa has also expressed an interest in a future run.
The way Trump won office — without greasing palms in D.C. — has inspired others to do the same. And if more politicians are like Jacobs, that’s not a bad thing.
(photo credit, homepage and article images: Kane, CC BY-SA 2.0, Cropped/Collage by Miguel Discart / Glenn Jacobs, CC BY-SA 2.0, Cropped/ Collage by Gage Skidmore)
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