early 1980’s. After leaving the sport for health rea-
sons in 1984, he continued to use the name Jesse
Ventura, and in the years following his wrestling ca-
reer, he appeared in several Hollywood action and
science-fiction movies and hosted or provided com-
mentary for televised and pay-per-view wrestling pro-
grams.
His first venture into politics occurred in 1990,
when he was elected mayor of Brooklyn Park, Min-
nesota, an office he held until 1995. In the latter
year, he began a talk radio show on KFAN 1130 in
Minneapolis-St. Paul that added to his local follow-
ing. In 1998, he entered the Minnesota governor’s
race on the Reform Party ticket. His principal oppo-
nents were Minnesota attorney general Hubert H.
Humphrey III, son of former vice president Hubert
Humphrey, running as the candidate of the Demo-
cratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, and St. Paul mayor
Norm Coleman, who had switched from the DFL
Party to the Republican Party in 1996. During the
campaign, Ventura attracted attention with his out-
spoken opinions and frequently outrageous behav-
ior. The televised debates preceding the election
also contributed to his success as Humphrey and
Coleman battled with each other and failed to take
Ventura’s growing popularity as a
political outsider seriously. During
the latter part of the campaign, he
used the slogan: “Don’t waste your
vote on politics-as-usual. Vote Re-
form Party Jesse Ventura for gover-
nor!” On election night, Ventura
won a surprising victory, receiving
37 percent of the vote against 34
percent for Coleman and 28 per-
cent for Humphrey.
Following his election, Ventura
attained instant national celebrity.
BothTimeandNewsweekcontained
major stories on him, and he ap-
peared on the National Broadcast-
ing Company’s (NBC)The Tonight
Showhosted by Jay Leno. As in the
campaign itself, Ventura continued
to demonstrate the ability to at-
tract attention with outrageous com-
ments and behavior. After he took
office, although receiving approval
ratings as high as 73 percent during parts of 1999,
Ventura’s popularity gradually waned. He devel-
oped an adversarial relationship with both the local
media and the state legislature and was satirized in a
1999 book by well-known Minnesota author Garri-
son Keillor. He did not run for reelection in 2002, al-
though his notoriety and celebrity status continued
into the new decade.
Impact Jesse Ventura’s political success at the end
of the 1990’s reflected the growing dissatisfaction of
voters with the major political parties and with ca-
reer politicians. His surprise victory in the 1998 Min-
nesota governor’s race thus provides a dramatic and
bizarre example of late 1990’s political disillusion-
ment and discontent.
Further Reading
Hauser, Tom.Inside the Ropes with Jesse Ventura.Min-
neapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.
Keillor, Garrison.Me: By Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente.New
York: Viking Press, 1999.
Scott WrightSee also Elections in the United States, midterm;
Reform Party; Talk radio.The Nineties in America Ventura, Jesse 893
Minnesota governor-elect Jesse Ventura holds copies ofTimemagazine following his
success at the polls in the 1998 election.(AP/Wide World Photos)