Election Day: From athlete to politician (the best and the worst)

Election Day is finally here. Wo what better topic for our daily sports Google+ Hangout than: Do athletes make good politicians? Times Sports Editor Mike James, columnist Bill Dwyre and reporter Baxter Holmes discussed the topic and ran down a large list of athletes who went into politics. A look at some of the names that came up:

Bill Bradley: He played for 10 years in the NBA, winning two titles with the New York Knicks before being elected New Jersey state senator in 1978 and running for president in 2000.

Jim Bunning: Hall of Fame pitcher who was elected to the U.S. Senate from Kentucky in 1998.

Kevin Johnson: Three-time All-Star NBA guard was elected mayor of Sacramento in 2008.

Jack Kemp: Won consecutive AFL championships in 1964 and ‘65, was a member of Congress from 1971 to 1989, ran for president in 1988 and was Bob Dole‘s running mate in 1996.

Steve Largent: Hall of Fame receiver was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Oklahoma from 1994 to 2002.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: From bodbuilding to governor of California.

Heath Shuler: Was the third pick in the 1994 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District in 2006 and 2008.

Join us for out live discussion at 11:30 here on this post. If you have a question for James, Dwyre or Holmes, sent it in an email to sportshangout@latimes.com and we will try to answer it on the air.

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