Barack Obama is on the ballot in California—but there’s a twist

Is California ready for Governor Barack Obama? Probably not, as polls suggest he’s a long shot, but Barack D. Obama Shaw is among the dozens of candidates running in California’s gubernatorial primary that concludes Tuesday. While the Democratic candidate has gotten a bit of press for his famous moniker, Obama Shaw didn’t make the cut of the top seven candidates in a poll released Monday that was conducted by California State University, Long Beach Center for Urban Politics and Policy. If it similarly seems like a long shot that there just so happens to be another Barack Obama with political aspirations, you’re not wrong: That wasn’t the California candidate’s original name. Rather, he was born Cecil L. Shaw III before legally changing his name through what he describes on his campaign website as an “inspired vision” in 2013. Though Obama Shaw told Newsweek that he was compared to actor Denzel Washington after high school—which inspired his choice of Denzel as a middle name—that later changed to comparisons to the former president. While serving an eight-year stint in the U.S. Army Reserves, he wanted a “uniform that didn’t come off” and a name that “was going to remind me of the new me: a person of hope, a person of music, a person of leadership.” Just as rappers and superheroes adopt new names, Obama Shaw decided to do the same. “President Barack Obama brought a hope into the world that I had never seen or experienced before and this was the catalyst that had me legally changing my name because I believe that people today need that same type of hope,” he wrote on his campaign website. WHAT’S IN A NAME? That name hasn’t done much for Obama Shaw politically—yet. He ran for mayor of the city of Alameda, in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he hosts the weekly show, Alameda’s Got Talent. But he garnered less than 1,800 votes to finish in third out of three candidates. And if sharing a name with one of the most famous men in the world didn’t help a candidate break through in a small race, it likely won’t in a much larger contest like the gubernatorial primary. Indeed, a team of political scientist researchers concluded in 2025 that name recognition offers only a negligible electoral benefit. Still, Obama Shaw’s political aspirations weren’t dashed then—and likely won’t be after Tuesday’s primary. As he wrote on his campaign website, he remains “really excited” about the opportunity to make a difference politically. “My goal is to bring harmony and confidence to the state of California.” Obama Shaw is running on a platform to address the state’s homelessness crisis, build more housing, and eliminate unnecessary spending. The business coach and keynote speaker was bitten by the political bug after he decided to stop complaining and start campaigning. And Obama Shaw thinks everyone should run for office if they believe their ideas are better than the incumbent’s, as he told Spectrum News. “If you really want the future to be better, you really have to go out there and create it,” Obama Shaw said. “Just do it and believe in yourself.”