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Why Does Minnesota Keep Electing Entertainers?

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Hollywood Reporter: “When Michele Tafoya became the Republican nominee for Senate from Minnesota Tuesday night, the longtime Sunday Night Football reporter made a resounding entrance onto the political stage. Tafoya collected more than twice as many votes as her nearest opponent, a former Navy SEAL…”

“But Tafoya also sent a different signal with her win: the tradition of television entertainers diving into Minnesota politics is alive and well.”

“Former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura did it, winning an election for governor in 1998 in a shocking upset. Comedian and SNL veteran Al Franken did it, winning an election for senator in 2008 in a shocking drama (a recount and a few hundred votes). A pair of local TV fixtures, news anchor Rod Grams and entrepreneur and TV-commercial mainstay Rudy Boschwitz, did it, each serving as senators in the last few decades of the 20th century.”

“And now Tafoya is looking to do it too.”

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About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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