VENTURA, Jesse.  (1951 -    ).  Minnesota governor and former professional wrestler.  Ventura, a professional wrestler gone political, became the first Reform Party candidate to be elected governor.

Ventura was born James George Janos on July 15, 1951 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  At an early age, Ventura and his friends wrestled in a makeshift ring.  In 1969, he followed his older brother’s footsteps and joined the Navy SEALs.  He served overseas in the Vietnam War for 17 months and received an honorable discharge in 1973. 

Ventura enrolled in college on the GI bill and took acting classes to help his new found wrestling career.  Adopting the stage name “The Body,” Ventura wrestled for 11 years.  In 1984, he was diagnosed with having blood clots in his lungs and was forced to abandon his wrestling career.  Pushing on, Ventura took up the microphone as a wrestling commentator, an actor, and a disc jockey.

Angered by Minnesota politicians, Ventura ran for mayor of Brooklyn Park in 1990 and won 65 percent of the vote.  Still frustrated with the politics of the state, he ran for governor in 1998 against two popular candidates.  After a relaxed campaign, he came out surprisingly victorious and was sworn into office on January 4, 1999.  As governor, he took on the persona “The Mind” and received the highest job approval rating of any governor in Minnesota’s history. 

Laurie Borslien