Celebrities in politics have a leg up, but their advantages can't top fundraising failures

For Walker to win the runoff, a few things would need to happen.

Walker would need to gain the votes of the Libertarian candidate, Chase Oliver, who thus far hasn’t endorsed either Walker or Warnock. Turnout in the runoff election is also critical. Polls indicate that Walker leads among voters 50 and older. Older voters tend to vote at higher rates than younger voters, which means Walker has the lead with higher-propensity voters. On the other hand, younger voters seem more energized than in the recent past. Warnock, who has experience with runoff elections, would need to keep young people energized for a few more weeks in order to win.

Finally, in most states, candidates, celebrity or not, can win with a plurality of voters. Indeed, many celebrities who won elected office did so with less than 50% of the vote.

Wrestler Jesse Ventura won with 37% of the vote when he was elected governor of Minnesota in 1998. Arnold Schwarzenegger became the governor of California in 2003 with 49% of the vote. Comedian Al Franken got less than 42% of the vote when he was elected Minnesota senator in 2008. And Donald Trump got 46% of the popular vote when he won the presidency in 2016.

The United States’ plurality rule, which allows a candidate who receives the most number of votes to win, and Electoral College systems have allowed celebrities to win elections even when they have less than a majority. This does not suggest overwhelming popularity; rather, their victories are made possible by specific election rules.

Oz and Walker won’t be the last celebrities to seek public office. Celebrities have the talent and fame to make them viable political candidates. They are at ease in front of cameras and audiences and they are skilled at creating a personal brand that resonates with the public.

They also benefit from copious media coverage. The free media attention gives them an advantage that noncelebrity candidates do not have.

But it’s likely that celebrities who had political experience before running for office would perform better than celebrities who are political neophytes.

Schwarzenegger and Franken offer an example of how it can benefit celebrity candidates to be involved in politics before seeking office. Schwarzenegger, for example, first campaigned for Proposition 49, a law that created after-school educational enrichment programs, before officially diving into politics.

Franken founded the political action committee Midwest Values and called upon his celebrity friends to donate so he could fund Democratic candidates who would later serve as his political allies. This allowed Schwarzenegger and Franken to learn valuable political skills before running for office. Even Trump was an active political donor and celebrity endorser before declaring his bid for the presidency.

Oz’s loss and Walker’s current deficit demonstrate that even celebrities must pay their political dues before seeking office.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Richard T. Longoria, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Richard T. Longoria does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.