Last season’s Bachelor Ben Higgins has announced that, as predicted, he will make his foray into public service, running as a Republican in the race for the 4th district of Colorado’s House. Higgins joins a lofty list of reality stars who moved into politics, some of whom who captured their runs through the medium as well, like that dude from The Real World and T-Rav of Southern Charm.
As The Denver Post reported, current candidate William “Willie” B. Pinkston is stepping aside to allow Ben to attempt to sweep the field in this democratic-heavy district:
“Ben is the only Republican in the district I would step aside for. He’s a great guy and likely the only other Republican who can win,” Pinkston said in a statement sent to The Denver Post on May 31 by political consultant Dustin Olson, of Olson Strategies.
Though Ben has not tweeted about the news, and I have not received an email notification since I signed up for his mailing list via his bare-bones Ben Higgins for Colorado website, he did release a statement saying that he’s “definitely not a politician,” but that that won’t stop him from running:
“I am definitely not a politician, but I have a lot to offer through my years in the financial services industry and, more importantly, my work in charitable and humanitarian organizations,” Higgins said in the statement provided by Olson.
The rest of his feed is relatively bland, with only a brief mention of anything politically-minded.
Ben recently signed up to film a reality TV show with his fiancé Lauren (apologies, her Twitter bio reads “fiancé, daughter, sister, believer.”), one that promises to be slightly more interesting now that his political goals have been announced, but will likely still amount to some really boring TV.
Juliet Litman, on whose podcast Ben promised he’d announce the news if he did indeed run, is rightfully displeased.