Do celebrities belong in political office? After media personality, and former olympian, Caitlyn Jenner recently said she will be running for governor of California, this question has been discussed among many.

  In a social media post on April 23, Jenner announced, “I’m in! California is worth fighting for.” Attached to the post was a press release sharing that she has begun paperwork to run for governor of California as a Republican. 

  Sanderson Senior Alison Beal does not think it is appropriate for celebrities to enter political races saying, “It’s ridiculous that famous people are using their wealth and platform to get votes. It seems like a lot of these celebrities are not entering politics for the right reasons.”

  Jenner has taken many unpopular stances over the years, and recently, regarding the LGBTQ+ community. In an interview with Ellen Degeneres in 2015 she shared with the talk show host, “I’m a traditionalist, I like tradition and [marriage] has always been a man and a woman. As time has gone on, I have changed my thinking. If that word ‘marriage’ is really that important to you…I can go with it.”

  After Ellen called out Jenner for her evident skepticism on the topic, Jenner continued saying that she would not want to stand in the way of same sex couple’s happiness. However, it was clear that Jenner is not fully in support of gay marriage. 

  More recently, she was asked her opinion on trans athletes in sports. Jenner shared with TMZ, “This is a question of fairness. That’s why I oppose biological boys who are trans competing in girl’s sports in our schools.” 

  This statement was in stark contrast to what Jenner had to say on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News segment back in 2017. She explained to Carlson that she is fine with trans athletes competing with their own gender identity. “If the Olympic committee thinks it’s fair, I’m fine with it. There’s no big advantage, physical [advantage] has nothing to do with it.”

  Caitlyn Jenner is not the first example of celebrities running for political office. In fact, California has seen this before. “Terminator” Arnold Schwarzenegger served as Republican Governor of California from 2003 to 2011. 

  One of the first cases of celebrities in office was former President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was a Hollywood movie star, and before he became President of the country, he was President of the Screen Actors Guild. 

  Before he was known as the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump was a reality TV show host and casino mogul. 

  Rapper Kanye West even sparked rumors that he was going to run for president in 2020, but proved to be unsuccessful. 

  Right here in North Carolina, “American Idol” runner-up, Clay Aiken ran in a congressional race. Aiken ran as a Democrat in the 2nd District of North Carolina back in 2014, but lost to Representative Renee Ellmers. 

  This trend of well-known stars running for political office has been around for decades now. While the answer to the aforementioned question is certainly subjective, it is clear that this trend is on the rise.