Barack Obama Shaw seeks California governor ballot spot
Barack D. Obama Shaw is running for governor of California, and ballots mailed within the last month to millions of Californians include his name in black ink. The Alameda candidate, who legally changed his name in 2013, has made that ballot line the most visible part of a campaign built around housing, homelessness and cutting unnecessary spending.
Barack D. Obama Shaw in Alameda
Obama Shaw said he had used the name long before running for office. He said the name began in the early 2010s while he was in the military, when people started nicknaming him Barack Obama before the presidential comparison took hold. Before that, people would call him Denzel Washington.
He described the name as a personal shorthand for several parts of his life: Obama, Denzel, his father, his grandfather and himself. He also said the name carried the weight of a political moment he watched from military service, when he recalled, “When I would stand to attention... and his picture was on the wall and I was proud,” and added, “He made it happen that a person like me could become president.”
California governor race platform
Obama Shaw said his campaign is focused on solving the homelessness crisis, building more housing and eliminating unnecessary spending. He framed his entry into the race in personal terms, saying, “I’m the one that believes in myself and willing to take risks, that’s the only difference,” after telling supporters, “If you really want the future to be better you really have to go out there and create it.”
His public life in Alameda adds another layer to the campaign. Obama Shaw hosts Alameda’s Got Talent at the Alameda Theater and teaches kids to play music, and he said while walking the streets of Alameda, “I love [Alameda] it’s a great place. It reminds me of Mayberry with Andy Griffith except without the whistling,” linking a local presence to a statewide race now printed on ballots mailed to millions.
California ballots and the name
The practical effect for voters is simple: his name is already on the ballot in black ink. That means Californians filling out mailed ballots over the coming weeks will see Barack D. Obama Shaw alongside the rest of the governor field, with his unusual name now part of the same official election machinery that places every other candidate before the electorate.
His ballot access also carries a built-in test of recognition. Obama Shaw said people knew him first as Barack Obama in the military and only later as a candidate for governor, so the ballot now turns a personal name choice from 2013 into a statewide political fact that voters will have to weigh when they mark their choices.
