Will having a famous name help these candidates?

Globalnews.ca
Oct. 24, 2014
By Alan Carter

It’s no secret having a famous name can give you a leg up in politics: Kennedy, Trudeau, and Ford for example.
But what about Danny DeVito in Vaughan or Robert Duvall in Milton?

Across the GTHA there are people with famous names trying to win election on Monday October 27.

Vaughan Mayoral Candidate Danny DeVito admits that when he introduces himself on the doorstep some people laugh.

“Some people think it’s a joke,” he says.

That’s not always so funny when you’re a candidate running on a platform of accessibility and accountability.

Still DeVito laughs it off.

“It doesn’t bother me. I think it’s funny,” says DeVito.

Having a famous name hasn’t held back Canada’s Minister for State for Social Development Candace Bergen. It used to be more of headache, but time changes everything says Bergen.

“Most people in their twenties don’t make the connection. It’s people in their forties and fifties that point it out,” she said.

From the star to her most famous character, Murphy Browne is another candidate for municipal office, running to be a school board trustee in Toronto.

When asked about her famous name she shoots back, “she has my namesake. I had it first.”

Robert Duvall, the one who wants to be a Milton councillor, not the one who said “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” says his famous name doesn’t make much difference.

“Unfortunately it hasn’t helped me get better hotel reservations” says Duvall.