Jesse Ventura Says He May Run For President As A Green Party Candidate
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura announced on Monday that he is “testing the waters” to see if he could run as a Green Party candidate in the 2020 presidential election, The Hill reported.
Ventura, a former pro wrestler turned politician, tweeted on Monday that he had expressed his interest in the Green Party nomination to party officials, but had not yet filed any paperwork to make things official. He did say that he had endorsed the Greens’ platform and stated his opinion that the two-party system is not the answer to the current political situation.
To be clear: I haven't filed anything. I authorized a letter of interest that was sent on my behalf to the Greens and I'm testing the waters for Green Party nomination. I'm an independent. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican because I know they're not the solution.
— Jesse Ventura (@GovJVentura) April 27, 2020
According to The Hill, this isn’t the first time that Ventura has considered a presidential bid. In 2018, the WWE Hall of Famer talked about running in this year’s election as an Independent candidate. Last year, he reiterated that he was considering a 2020 run, saying that he would definitely beat Donald Trump if he ran.
“If I do do it, Trump will not have a chance. For one, Trump knows wrestling. He participated in two WrestleManias. He knows he can never out-talk a wrestler, and he knows I’m the greatest talker wrestling’s ever had.”
Fox News reported that Ventura also talked about wanting to run as a Libertarian in the 2016 election. That presidential bid, however, never materialized.
Though Ventura rose to fame as a pro-wrestler, he’s no stranger to serving his country, both as a military man and a politician, per Fox News. The former grappler is a veteran of the U.S. Navy who served during the Vietnam War. He then got into politics in the 1990s after a long career in wrestling. He won his first election in 1991 when he became the mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
Seven years later, Ventura ran for governor of Minnesota as the Reform Party candidate and won. He served out his term and decided against running for a second term after breaking his ties with the party.
If Ventura did enter the race for the Green Party nomination, he would have plenty of competition, according to The Hill. Several candidates have already declared their intent to become the party’s nominee. The current front-runner is Green Party co-founder Howie Hawkins, who is an activist and a trade unionist from New York and well-established in third-party circles. He has already been endorsed by the Socialist Party and his deep ties within the Greens establish him as the current leader of the pack, as further noted by the outlet.
