• Incoming Sen. JD Vance continues a tradition of stars who broke into Republican politics. 
• Some of his predecessors on Capitol Hill incorporate actor Fred Thompson and singer Sonny Bono. 
• Their pre-congressional occupations include things like stints on Broadway and truth Television, and in blockbuster motion pictures. 

Recently minted Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio would not just be replacing retiring Sen. Rob Portman in the 118th Congress. He’ll be joining the cadre of proper-leaning actors, singers, and truth Television personalities who traded on their movie star to safe a place on Capitol Hill. 

Vance, who defeated Democratic challenger Rep. Tim Ryan in one particular of the wildest and priciest Senate races of the 2022 midterms, originally rose to fame as writer of the controversial ode to Appalachia, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His 2016 memoir became a Netflix film in 2020, cementing the entertainer bona fides of the aspiring venture capitalist and nonprofit founder. 

Whilst a great deal of lawmakers pen tell-all textbooks and pseudo-presidential marketing campaign manifestos during their political occupations, Vance just happened to get his very first page-turner out of the way in advance of arriving in Washington. 

But a trailblazer he is not. 

Right here are 5 other cultural figures, detailed by when they joined Congress, who conquer Vance to the punch of becoming Republican lawmakers.