5 Celebrities Who Memorably Ran For Political Office

Roseanne Barr in the Oval Office? It could've happened.

In 2012, the longtime sitcom star launched a gonzo campaign for the presidency, which is chronicled in new documentary Roseanne for President! (in theaters Friday in New York and Los Angeles, via iTunes and on demand). Running as a candidate for the California-based Peace and Freedom Party, she earned more than 65,000 votes but lost to President Obama.

Barr joins a slew of famous people who have made the leap into politics, includingRonald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Donald Trump and Kanye West, who announced last summer that he's running for president in 2020. Here are a few more celebrities who had political designs:

Clint Eastwood was mocked for his "empty chair" speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa. (Photo: File photo by H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY)

Clint Eastwood

It's impossible to forget the grizzled actor/director's infamous speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, where he addressed an empty chair representing Obama. But the extent of Eastwood's politics goes beyond his derided skit: Running on a pro-business platform, he was elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., in 1986. During his two-year term, he earned $200 a month, which he donated to a local youth center.

Singer/actor Sonny Bono flourished in his political career, elected to Congress as a representative in 1994. (Photo: 1996 photo by Jym Wilson, GPN)

Sonny Bono

In light of his dwindling music and acting career after divorcing Cher in 1975, the conservative entertainer embarked on a successful political career. In 1988, he was elected mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., an office he held for four years. Although he lost his bid for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1992, he was elected to the House two years later, representing California's 44th Congressional District until he died in a skiing accident in 1998 at age 62.

Radio personality Howard Stern made a serious run at governor of New York in 1994. At left is his co-host Robin Quivers. (Photo: File photo by Chrystyna Czajkowsky, AP)

Howard Stern

In 1994, the popular shock jock surprised listeners when he revealed on his radio show that he'd be running for governor of New York as a Libertarian. "It doesn't matter if you find me offensive," he announced. "I'll get out of office before I can really screw anything up." Promising to reinstate the death penalty and order road construction crews to only work at night, Stern was scorned by the media and eventually dropped out of the race, after refusing to disclose his personal finances.

Wyclef Jean submitted paperwork to run for president of Haiti in 2010, but was denied due to residency requirements. (Photo: File photo by Frederic Dupoux, Getty Images)

Wyclef Jean

The Haitian rapper, whose family moved to the USA when he was 9, tried to run for president of his native country in 2010, eight months after a devastating earthquake that killed 316,000 people. "I feel like I'm being drafted by the population right now to give them a different face, a different voice," Jean told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that August. But his bid was swiftly rejected by Haiti's provisional electoral council, for not meeting the requirement that presidential candidates must live in the country for at least five consecutive years before running.

Waka Flocka Flame insisted that his presidential bid wasn't a joke when he announced his candidacy in 2015. (Photo: Cindy Ord, Getty Images)

Waka Flocka Flame

In 2015, the Atlanta rapper made good on his tweeted promise that he was running for president — announcing his candidacy in an interview with Rolling Stone. He even went so far as to shoot a campaign video and canvass on the streets of New York, urging people to sign a petition to include him on the 2016 ballot. But after realizing he was too young (at 29, six years younger than the minimum 35), the hip-hop star changed course, jokingly making his bid for speaker of the House in a Funny Or Dievideo last fall.