Usually, an outsider tries to urge voters to get rid of the clowns in Congress. But first-time candidate Steve Lough is running for Congress as a clown.
The South Carolina Democrat launched his campaign with a website URL clownforcongress.com and a short video of him juggling five balls (to represent South Carolina's Fifth District) after filing his candidacy papers.
Steve Lough Runs as a Clown...
A professional clown for 30 years, Lough has worked for for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus and Japan's Kinoshita Circus, and his website offers photographic proof. (Clearly, Lough is unafraid of what opposition researchers might do with a candidate shown wearing clown makeup.) Lough also has a cheeky slogan: Aim High! Vote Lough!But Lough isn't the only Democrat in the primary with a sense of humor. He will face off against Archie Parnell, who came within a whisker of a major special election upset in 2017. Parnell almost won in the deeply Republican district thanks to his quirky ad campaign, including a spoof of House of Cards. The nebbish Parnell began his second campaign with an ad in which he jokes about how he handled his loss.
...But Says Archie Parnell Isn't Very Funny
Lough doesn't find Parnell's ads very funny. On his website, Lough cites Parnell's background as a Goldman Sachs tax attorney and says, "the elite say his ads are great! He gets a tattoo, he makes snow angels, he parodies House of Cards! He lost. I say the ads just show he is completely out of touch with working people ... Goldman Sachs helped crash the economy in 2008 and gave us $4 a gallon gas! Remember that? And he is making snow angels."Still, we hold out hope this race will become the funniest of the 2018 cycle.