Ted Nugent, Other Conservative Celebs May Run for Office

Thanks to President Donald J. Trump’s election victory in November, more political outsiders than ever — among them many celebrities — are mulling the idea of throwing their hats into the electoral ring.

Last week the Michigan Republican Party described Kid Rock as a potentially “awesome candidate” to Fox News. That seems to have compelled musician and activist Ted Nugent to begin tweeting that he, too, is thinking about a run for Senate.

Catch is, Kid Rock’s name was mentioned without a single response from him to the floating of his name. Yet. He told Rolling Stone back in 2012, when he was stumping for Romney, “Look, I tend to vote Republican, but I don’t like the hardcore views on either side, and I’m not in bed with anybody. I’d probably be more libertarian, but I’m a firm believer you have to pick a side. I can’t be playing the middle. If you think differently, that’s fine. I’d love to grab a beer and hear why you think that way.”

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Nugent appears more likely. The avid gun advocate has contemplated campaigns for governor of Michigan in both 2006 and 2010.

It’s not like celebrity status hasn’t led to successful careers in politics before, of course. Ronald Reagan notwithstanding, there’s Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Franken, the late Sonny Bono, and even former “Love Boat” star Fred Grandy — to name just a few.

So who, then, is looking at a potential run, and might not only stand a chance but be pretty solid on the job, too We’ve rounded up these five:

Ted Nugent
The outspoken and polarizing “Motor City Madman” makes no bones about where he stands on issues, and seems to be making none about a possible run for the Senate in 2018.

He told The Daily Caller, “I’m always very interested in making my country and the great state of Michigan great again, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do to help in any way I possibly can.”

Kelsey Grammer
The “Cheers” and “Frasier” star has been thinking long and hard about a run for some sort of emphasis — emphasis on the long. Back in 2003, a run for Senate appeared imminent in his life once his “Cheers” spinoff went off the air, but nothing came of it. Then, in 2009, he appeared on Mike Huckabee’s TV show and admitted to thinking about a stab at running for governor of California.

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Dean Cain
The former TV “Superman,” a staunch conservative — although on social issues he described himself as “far, far to the left” to RollCall.com — has been open about wanting to run for Congress for years, predicating every conversation about it with “some day.” He would probably be eyeing California’s 33rd District, which is home to many a movie star.

“It would be interesting, perhaps, yes,” Cain said in an interview at the Washington Hilton, according to Roll Call. He was attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner as a guest of RealClearPolitics. Longtime Democratic Rep. Henry A. Waxman announced his retirement in January. Is “some day” finally here?

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson
The charismatic movie star is more politically inclined than many of his fans are aware. And he’s a Republican, which even fewer probably know. He spoke at the 2000 Republican National Convention, and when promoting his latest film “Moana” this past fall, he was asked about an eventual run for some sort of office.

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” he told Vanity Fair. “It would be a great opportunity to help people, so it’s possible. This past election shows that anything is possible.”

John Elway
Colorado Republicans have been wanting Elway to get into the game for awhile. Now they’ve really set their sights on 2018, when a gubernatorial seat will be ripe for the taking.

“Most people know me as a football guy, but I’m a Coloradoian first,” said Elway in a political ad last summer that supports an initiative to make it more difficult to amend the state constitution.

That said, Elway also told local affiliate KUSA 9 News, “My intentions are to continue to run the Denver Broncos football operations. For some reason these things continue to come up,” as Breitbart recently reported.