Stacey Dash's Congress bid is underway after the former actress filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission Monday to run as a Republican in the mostly Hispanic 44th District in southern California.
Dash, best known for the teen movie "Clueless" and more recently as a political commentator on Fox News, will likely take on Democrat Nanette Diaz Barragan, who replaced Janice Hahn, another Democrat, last year, The Sacramento Bee reported.
The district covers the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts along with the cities of Carson, Compton, North Long Beach, and San Pedro, according to the newspaper.
Dash, 51, first expressed her interest in running for office earlier this month on social media.
Dash follows in the footsteps of a handful of other celebrities who later entered California politics. Here are four of the most famous:
1. Ronald Reagan — Probably the most famous example of an actor turned politician, Reagan was the former president of the Screen Actors Guild when he was elected twice as the governor of California from 1967 to 1975. He, of course, then went on to serve two terms as U.S. president, from 1980 to 1988, according to CBS News.
2. Clint Eastwood — The Oscar-winning entertainer served one two-year term as mayor of Carmel, California, in 1986. His forray into politics was sparked when the small town's local planning board ended his attempts to remodel an office building next door to a restaurant he owned, according to Time magazine.
3. Arnold Schwarzenegger — The former bodybuilder and A-list action star won a special election for California governor in 2003, and he served two terms as a Republican, according to CNN.
4. Sonny Bono — Best known as half of the singing duo Sonny & Cher and as a star on their popular television variety show, Bono won a seat as Republican mayor of Palm Springs, California, in 1988 and then a U.S. congressman in 1994, Time wrote. He died in a skiing accident in 1998 while still in Congress.
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