Pro-Wrestling and the Connecticut Senate Race
The Weekly Standard's Jonathan V. Last profiles Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment and current Republican frontrunner for Chris Dodd's soon-to-be empty Senate seat in Connecticut:
McMahon is not the first figure from professional wrestling to enter politics. In 1974, Jim Crockett, who ran the National Wrestling Alliance, ran for the Senate in North Carolina. He finished sixth in a field of six in the GOP primary. And, in 1990, Jesse "The Body" Ventura was elected mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Eight years later, he was governor of the state.
But McMahon may be the first person to run for office for whom wrestling is not merely a name-recognition bonus, but rather the raison d'être of her campaign. It is both McMahon's signal achievement and her most glaring vulnerability.
Read the whole fascinating story here. For Reason's coverage of former Linda McMahon employee Jesse Ventura, go here.