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SBD/Issue 40/Law & Politics
Decision 2006: Sports Figures Running For Office
Published November 7, 2006
As voters across the U.S. head to the polls today, numerous figures from the sports world are running for office. Bucks Owner and U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) is up for re-election, NFL HOFer Lynn Swann is challenging Ed Rendell for the governorship in Pennsylvania and former NFL QB Heath Shuler is running for Congress in North Carolina, marking three of the many sports figures who are bidding for public office today. The chart below, courtesy of The Hotline, shows more from that list.
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| STATE |
CANDIDATE |
SPORT |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Running For Governor | |||
| California | Arnold Schwarzenegger - R | Bodybuilding | Seven-time Mr. Olympia |
| Florida | Charlie Crist - R | Football | Wake Forest Univ. |
| Georgia | Sonny Perdue - R | Football | Univ. of Georgia |
| Iowa | Chet Culver - D | Football | Virginia Tech Univ. |
| Maryland | Bob Ehrlich - R | Football | Princeton Univ. |
| Ohio | Ken Blackwell - R | Football | Xavier Univ. |
| Pennsylvania | Lynn Swann - R | Football | USC; Steelers; Pro Football HOFer |
| Rhode Island | Don Carcieri - R | Football | Brown Univ. |
| Wisconsin | Mark Green - R | Swimming | Univ. of Wisconsin-Eau Claire |
| Running for Senate | |||
| Maryland | Michael Steele - R | Boxing | Mike Tyson's former brother-in-law |
| Virginia | George Allen - R | Football | Univ. of Virginia; son of Pro Football HOF coach George Allen |
| Wisconsin | Herb Kohl - D | Baskeball | Bucks Owner |
| Running for Congress | |||
| Arizona District 1 | Rick Renzi - R | Football | Northern Arizona Univ. |
| Arizona District 8 | Randy Graf - R | Golfer | PGA of America member |
| Colorado District 4 | Angie Paccione - D | Basketball | Stanford Univ. |
| Hawaii District 2 | Bob Hogue - R | Writer | Sports Columnist |
| Indiana District 9 | Baron Hill - D | Basketball | Furman Univ.; member of Indiana Basketball HOF |
| Kansas District 2 | Jim Ryun - R | Running | Univ. of Kansas; three-time Olympian; '68 Silver Medalist |
| New York District 1 | Italo Zanzi - R | Baseball/ Handball/ Soccer |
MLB VP/Int'l Broadcast Sales & Latin America/U.S. Hispanic Marketing; U.S. Handball Team member |
| North Carolina District 11 | Heath Shuler - D | Football | Univ. of Tennessee; Redskins; Saints |
| Ohio District 4 | Jim Jordan - R | Wrestling | Univ. of Wisconsin; two-time NCAA champion |
| Other Notables | |||
| Hawaii State Senate District 25 | Fred Hemmings - R | Surfing | World Champion |
| Massachusetts State Auditor | Joe DeNucci - D | Boxing | Former middleweight boxer |
| Nevada Secretary of State | Danny Tarkanian - R | Basketball | Son of former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian |
| Texas 3rd Court of Appeals | Mina Brees - D | Football | Mother of Saints QB Drew Brees |
