:Jesse Ventura

File:Jesse Ventura Roosevelt Yearbook 1969; Sagamore 69 - DPLA - 5b67f348dbfaed8efd3b3a0dbad17932 (page 184) (cropped).jpg

Ventura was born James George Janos on July 15, 1951, in Minneapolis, Minnesota,{{cite web |url=http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_minnesota/col2-content/main-content-list/title_ventura_jesse.html |title=National Governors Association Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura biography |publisher=National Governors Association |access-date=August 27, 2015 |archive-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811133022/https://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_minnesota/col2-content/main-content-list/title_ventura_jesse.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web|title=Jesse Ventura Biography|url=http://www.biography.com/people/jesse-ventura-9542225|access-date=January 22, 2015|agency=Bio.|publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC|archive-date=February 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204185047/https://www.biography.com/people/jesse-ventura-9542225|url-status=dead}}Cohen, Daniel. Jesse Ventura. 2001. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-first Century Books. p. 26. Retrieved December 21, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-7613-1905-4}} the son of George William Janos and his wife, Bernice Martha (née Lenz). Both his parents were World War II veterans. His mother was the chief nurse anesthetist at North Memorial Hospital and his father worked for the Minneapolis Street Department.{{Cite web |title=Interview with Jesse Ventura |url=https://www.maxraskin.com/interviews/jesse-ventura |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=Interviews with Max Raskin |language=en-US |archive-date=July 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702221359/https://www.maxraskin.com/interviews/jesse-ventura |url-status=live }}

Ventura has an older brother, Jan, who similarly served in the Vietnam War as a UDT. Jan and Jesse graduated as members of BUD/S classes 49 and 58, respectively. Ventura has described himself as Slovak since his father's parents were from Slovakia; his mother was of German descent.{{cite web |url=http://www.wargs.com/political/ventura.html |title=Ancestry of Jesse Ventura |publisher=Wargs.com |access-date=October 20, 2008 |archive-date=April 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417170655/http://www.wargs.com/political/ventura.html |url-status=live }}April 1, 2008, in Larry King interview with Ventura on NBC Ventura was raised as a Lutheran. Born in South Minneapolis "by the Lake Street bridge", he attended Cooper Elementary School, Sanford Junior High School, and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1969. Roosevelt High School inducted Ventura into its first hall of fame in September 2014.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Ventura served in the United States Navy from December 1, 1969, to September 10, 1975, during the Vietnam War, but did not see combat. He graduated in BUD/S class 58 in December 1970 and was part of Underwater Demolition Team 12.{{cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/1130195.html |title=Ventura discloses he didn't see combat in Vietnam War |work=Star Tribune|location=Minneapolis|date=January 29, 2002|agency=Associated Press |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020203035901/http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/1130195.html |archive-date = February 3, 2002}}{{cite web|url=http://navyseals.com/ns-overview/notable-seals/jesse-ventura/|title=Jesse Ventura|work=Navy SEALs|access-date=November 27, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072122/http://navyseals.com/ns-overview/notable-seals/jesse-ventura/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.militaryhub.com/military-people?id=42|title=Military People|website=www.militaryhub.com|access-date=May 3, 2019|archive-date=December 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224125801/https://www.militaryhub.com/military-people?id=42|url-status=dead}}

Ventura has frequently referred to his military career in public statements and debates.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/31/us/the-1998-campaign-minnesota-candidates-are-neck-neck-and-neck-in-governor-s-race.html?pagewanted=1 |work=The New York Times |title=The 1998 Campaign: Minnesota; Candidates Are Neck, Neck and Neck in Governor's Race |first=Pam |last=Belluck |date=October 31, 1998 |access-date=May 6, 2010 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730143938/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/31/us/the-1998-campaign-minnesota-candidates-are-neck-neck-and-neck-in-governor-s-race.html?pagewanted=1 |url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/st/qview.cgi?template=metro_a_cache&slug=text05&online_date=05-April-2001 |title=Ventura-Anderson transcript |work=Star Tribune|location=Minneapolis|date=April 5, 2001 |access-date=June 13, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020210172032/http://www.startribune.com/st/qview.cgi?template=metro_a_cache&slug=text05&online_date=05-April-2001 |archive-date = February 10, 2002}} He was criticized by hunters and conservationists for saying in a 2001 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Until you have hunted men, you haven't hunted yet."{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93626&page=1 |title=Jesse Ventura Hunting Remarks Draw Fire |work=ABC News |access-date=June 13, 2010 |archive-date=January 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129233215/http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93626&page=1 |url-status=live }}

Near the end of his Navy service, Ventura began to spend time with the "South Bay" chapter of the Mongols Motorcycle Club in San Diego. He would ride onto Naval Base Coronado on his Harley-Davidson wearing his Mongol "colors". According to Ventura, he was a "full-patch" member of the club and third-in-command of his chapter, but never had any problems with the authorities.{{cite book |title=Jesse Ventura |last=Cohen |first=Daniel |year=2001 |publisher=Lerner Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-7613-1905-4 |pages=30–32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e2UxwnHvNMAC&q=jesse%20ventura%20mongols&pg=PT18 |access-date=December 12, 2010 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141431/https://books.google.com/books?id=e2UxwnHvNMAC&q=jesse%20ventura%20mongols&pg=PT18#v=snippet&q=jesse%20ventura%20mongols&f=false |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2002/May-12-Sun-2002/news/18724079.html |title=Outlaw Gangs: Northern Nevada eyes biker enmity |publisher=Reviewjournal.com |date=May 12, 2002 |access-date=June 13, 2010}}{{cite web |last=Labar |first=Justin |url=http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/181959-complete-interview-transcript-with-jesse-ventura |title=Complete Interview Transcript With Jesse Ventura |publisher=Wrestlezone.com |date=May 14, 2010 |access-date=June 13, 2010 |archive-date=December 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210063247/http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/181959-complete-interview-transcript-with-jesse-ventura |url-status=live }} His biker nickname was "Superman".[https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=buffaloipjournal Marks of Mayhem & Murder: When a Few Bad "Mongols" Spoil the Bunch, Should the Go Bunch, Should the Government Seize a Motorcycle Association Association's Registered Trademark?] (January 1, 2009) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027175446/https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1075&context=buffaloipjournal |date=October 27, 2020 }} In the fall of 1974, Ventura left the bike club to return to the Twin Cities. Shortly after that, the Mongols entered into open warfare with their biker rivals, the Hells Angels. In November 2018, Ventura testified as an expert witness on behalf of the Mongols in a federal racketeering trial in Santa Ana, California, defending the club against the government's allegations characterizing the Mongols as a criminal enterprise. He testified that he remained an inactive member of the Mongols and called his time as an active member of the club's San Diego chapter "a stepping stone I needed to make the transition from military life back to civilian life. I owe them for being there for me when the rest of the world wasn't".[https://www.ocregister.com/2018/11/28/former-minnesota-gov-jesse-ventura-defends-mongols-motorcycle-club-in-federal-court-in-orange-county/ Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura defends Mongols Motorcycle Club in federal court in Orange County] Sean Emery, Orange County Register (November 28, 2018) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129112844/https://www.ocregister.com/2018/11/28/former-minnesota-gov-jesse-ventura-defends-mongols-motorcycle-club-in-federal-court-in-orange-county/ |date=November 29, 2018 }}

Ventura attended North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, during the mid-1970s on the G.I. Bill. At the same time, he began weightlifting and wrestling and became a member of the Japan Karate Association. He was a bodyguard for The Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead for a time before entering professional wrestling and adopting the wrestling name Jesse Ventura.[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/on2/elections/ventura.html Jesse Ventura] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821130917/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/on2/elections/ventura.html |date=August 21, 2013}} PBS

File:Adrian adonis and Jesse Ventura 1982.png, {{Circa|1982}}]]

Ventura created the stage name Jesse "The Body" Ventura to go with the persona of a bully-ish beach bodybuilder, picking the name "Ventura" from a map as part of his "bleach blond from California" gimmick. As a wrestler, Ventura performed as a heel, a decision he attributes to his ability to be more creative as a villain. He resurrected Gorgeous George's old motto of "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!", which he emblazoned on his t-shirts. Much of this flamboyant persona was adapted from "Superstar" Billy Graham, a charismatic and popular performer during the 1970s.John Molinaro, The Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time, (Winding Stair Press: 2002), page 199

In 1975, Ventura made his debut in the Central States territory, before moving to the Pacific Northwest, where he wrestled for promoter Don Owen as Jesse "The Great" Ventura. During his stay in Portland, Oregon, he had notable feuds with Dutch Savage and Jimmy Snuka and won the Pacific Northwest Wrestling title twice (once from each wrestler) and the tag team title five times (twice each with Bull Ramos and "Playboy" Buddy Rose, and once with Jerry Oates). He later moved to his hometown promotion, the American Wrestling Association in Minnesota and began teaming with Adrian Adonis as the "East-West Connection" in 1979. In his RF Video shoot in 2012, he revealed that shortly after he arrived in the AWA he was given the nickname "the Body" by Verne Gagne.{{cite web |url=https://www.wwe.com/superstars/jesseventura |title=Jesse Ventura |publisher=WWE |access-date=June 16, 2019 |archive-date=May 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513113414/https://www.wwe.com/superstars/jesseventura |url-status=live }} The duo won the AWA World Tag Team Championship on July 20, 1980, on a forfeit when Gagne, one-half of the tag team champions along with Mad Dog Vachon, failed to show up for a title defense in Denver, Colorado. The duo held the belts for nearly a year, losing to "The High Flyers" (Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell).

File:Jesse Ventura, circa 1982.png

File:Jesse Ventura cigar.png

Shortly after losing the belts, the duo moved on to the World Wrestling Federation, where they were managed by Freddie Blassie. Although the duo was unable to capture the World Tag Team Championship, both Adonis and Ventura became singles title contenders, each earning several title shots at WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund.

Ventura continued to wrestle until September 1984 after three back-to-back losses to world champion Hulk Hogan, when blood clots in his lungs effectively ended his in-ring career. He claimed that the clots were a result of his exposure to Agent Orange during his time in Vietnam.{{cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/ventura_jesse.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101121738/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/ventura_jesse.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=January 1, 2013|title=Jesse Ventura's bio|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|access-date=June 26, 2009|date=January 21, 2006|author=Milner, John M.}} Ventura returned to the ring in 1985, forming a tag-team with Randy Savage and Savage's manager (and real-life wife) Miss Elizabeth. Often after their televised matches Ventura taunted and challenged fellow commentator Bruno Sammartino, but nothing ever came of this.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Ventura participated in a six-man tag-team match in December 1985 when he, Roddy Piper, and Bob Orton defeated Hillbilly Jim, Uncle Elmer, and Cousin Luke in a match broadcast on Saturday Night's Main Event IV. The tag match against the Hillbillies came about after Piper and Orton interrupted Elmer's wedding ceremony on the previous edition of the show; Ventura, who later claimed that he was under instruction from fellow commentator and WWF owner Vince McMahon to "bury them", insulted Elmer and his wife during commentary of a real wedding ceremony at the Meadowlands Arena, by proclaiming when they kissed: "It looks like two carp in the middle of the Mississippi River going after the same piece of corn." According to Ventura, the wedding was real, for at that time the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board would not allow the WWF to stage a fake wedding in the state of New Jersey, so Stan Frazier (Uncle Elmer) and his fiancee had agreed to have a real in-ring wedding.

Ventura retired from wrestling in March 1986. His final match was a tag with Roddy Piper, defeating The Orient Express at a house show in Los Angeles on March 25, 1990.{{cite web |title=Events Database - WWF House Show 1990|url=https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=53&page=4&year=1990&promotion=1 |website=Cage Match |access-date=April 21, 2025|quote=25.3.1990}}

After a failed comeback bid, Ventura hosted his own talk segment on the WWF's All Star Wrestling TV program called "The Body Shop", in much the same heel style as "Piper's Pit", though the setting was a mock gym (when Ventura was unavailable, "The Body Shop" was often hosted by Don Muraco). He began to do color commentary on television for All-Star Wrestling, replacing Angelo Mosca, and later Superstars of Wrestling, initially alongside Vince McMahon and the semi-retired Sammartino, and then just with McMahon after Sammartino's departure from the WWF in early 1988. Ventura most notably co-hosted Saturday Night's Main Event with McMahon, the first six WrestleManias (five of which were alongside Gorilla Monsoon), and most of the WWF's pay-per-views at the time with Monsoon, with the lone exception for Ventura being the first SummerSlam, in which he served as the guest referee during the main event.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Ventura's entertaining commentary style was an extension of his wrestling persona, i.e., a "heel", as he was partial to the villains, something new and different at the time. McMahon, who was always looking for ways of jazzing things up, came up with the idea of Ventura doing heel commentary at a time when most commentators, including McMahon himself, openly favored the fan favorites.

But Ventura still occasionally gave credit where it was due, praising the athleticism of fan favorites such as Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage, who was championed by Ventura for years, even when he was a face, a point Ventura regularly made on-air to McMahon and Monsoon. Occasionally he would even acknowledge mistakes made by the heels, including those made by his personal favorites such as Savage or wrestlers managed by heels Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

One notable exception to this rule was the WrestleMania VI Ultimate Challenge title for title match between WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and the WWF Intercontinental Champion, The Ultimate Warrior. Since they were both fan favorites, Ventura took a neutral position in his commentary, even praising Hogan's display of sportsmanship at the end of the match when he handed over the WWF Championship belt to the Warrior after he lost the title, stating that Hogan was going out like a true champion. During the match, however, which was also the last match at WrestleMania he called, Ventura did voice his pleasure when both broke the rules, at one point claiming, "This is what I like. Let the two goody two-shoes throw the rule book out and get nasty." Ventura's praise of Hogan's action was unusual for him, because he regularly rooted against Hogan during his matches, usually telling fellow commentator Monsoon after Hogan had won a championship match at a WrestleMania that he might "come out of retirement and take this dude out".

Hogan and Ventura were at one point close friends,Jesse Ventura, "I Ain't Got Time To Bleed pg. 108 but Ventura abruptly ended the friendship in 1994 after he discovered, during his lawsuit against McMahon, that Hogan was the one who had told McMahon about Ventura's attempt to form a labor union in 1986 before WrestleMania 2. After a dispute with McMahon over the use of his image for promoting a Sega product, Ventura left the WWF in August 1990.

Ventura later served as a radio announcer for a few National Football League teams, among them the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In February 1992 at SuperBrawl II, Ventura joined World Championship Wrestling as a commentator. WCW President Eric Bischoff ultimately released him for allegedly falling asleep during a WCW Worldwide TV taping at Disney MGM Studios in July 1994, but it has been speculated that the move may have had more to do with Hogan's arrival shortly before.

In 1987, while negotiating his contract as a WWF commentator, Ventura waived his rights to royalties on videotape sales when he was falsely told that only feature performers received such royalties. In November 1991, having discovered that other non-feature performers received royalties, Ventura brought an action for fraud, misappropriation of publicity rights, and quantum meruit in Minnesota state court against Titan Sports, asking for $2 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=2000000|start_year=1991}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in royalties based on a fair market value share.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wrestlingforum.com/classic-wrestling/2001906-wrestling-observer-1994-a-2.html|title=Wrestling Observer 1994 – Page 2 – Wrestling Forum: WWE, Impact Wrestling, Indy Wrestling, Women of Wrestling Forums|website=www.wrestlingforum.com|date=October 10, 2007 |access-date=May 3, 2019}} Titan moved the case to federal court, and Ventura won an $801,333 jury verdict on the last claim. In addition, the judge awarded him $8,625 in back pay for all non-video WWF merchandising featuring Ventura. The judgment was affirmed on appeal, and the case,{{cite web|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-8th-circuit/1387808.html |title=Ventura v. Titan Sports, Inc |access-date=January 19, 2017}} 65 F.3d 725 (8th Cir.1995), is an important result in the law of restitution. As a result, Ventura's commentary is removed on most releases from WWE Home Video.{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Eric |url=http://prowrestling.about.com/od/interviews/a/jesseventurainterview_3.htm |title=Jesse Ventura Interview |newspaper=Liveabout |publisher=Prowrestling.about.com |access-date=January 14, 2015 |archive-date=February 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224123352/http://prowrestling.about.com/od/interviews/a/jesseventurainterview_3.htm |url-status=dead }}

In mid-1999, Ventura reappeared on WWF television during his term as governor of Minnesota, acting as the special guest referee for the main event of SummerSlam, held in Minneapolis. He continued his relationship with the WWF by doing commentary for Vince McMahon's short-lived XFL.

On the June 4, 2001, episode of Raw, which aired live from Minnesota, Ventura appeared to overrule McMahon's authority and approve a WWF championship match between then-champion Stone Cold Steve Austin and Chris Jericho.

On the March 20, 2003, episode of SmackDown!, Ventura appeared in a taped interview to talk about the match between McMahon and Hogan at WrestleMania XIX.

On March 13, 2004, Ventura was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. The next night, at WrestleMania XX, he approached the ring to interview Donald Trump, who had a front-row seat. Trump affirmed that Ventura would receive his moral and financial support were he to reenter politics. Alluding to the 2008 election, Ventura announced, "I think we oughta put a wrestler in the White House in 2008!"

Ventura was guest host on the November 23, 2009, episode of Raw, during which he retained his heel persona by siding with the number one contender Sheamus over WWE Champion John Cena. This happened while he confronted Cena about how it was unfair that Cena always got a title shot in the WWE while Ventura never did during his WWE career. After that, Sheamus attacked Cena and put him through a table. Ventura then made the match a Table match at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. During the show, for the first time in nearly 20 years, McMahon joined Ventura ringside to provide match commentary.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/11232009/mainarticle|title=Theory of revolution|website=WWE.com|date=23 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103061115/https://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/11232009/mainarticle|archive-date=3 November 2012|url-status=live|access-date=30 July 2024}}

On December 14, 2024, Ventura returned to Saturday Night's Main Event. He dual broadcast the show with Joe Tessitore and called the main event match for the Undisputed WWE Championship between Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens with Michael Cole and Pat McAfee.{{Cite web |date=14 December 2024 |title=Jesse "The Body" Ventura makes an epic return: Saturday Night's Main Event highlights, Dec. 14, 2024 |url=https://www.wwe.com/videos/jesse-the-body-ventura-makes-an-epic-return-saturday-night-s-main-event-highlights-dec-14-2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217152545/https://www.wwe.com/videos/jesse-the-body-ventura-makes-an-epic-return-saturday-night-s-main-event-highlights-dec-14-2024 |archive-date=17 December 2024 |access-date=18 December 2024 |website=WWE.com}}

On January 25, 2025, Ventura returned to Saturday Night's Main Event, again dual broadcasting the show with Joe Tessitore. He called the WWE Intercontinental Championship match between Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker and Sheamus alongside Michael Cole and Pat MacAfee.

Near the end of his wrestling career, Ventura began an acting career. He appeared in the movie Predator (1987), whose cast included future California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and future Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Sonny Landham. Ventura became close friends with Schwarzenegger during the production of Predator. He appeared in two episodes of Zorro filmed in Madrid, Spain, in 1991. He had a starring role in the 1990 sci-fi movie Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe. He had supporting roles in The Running Man (again with Schwarzenegger), No Holds Barred, Thunderground, Demolition Man, Repossessed, Ricochet, The Master of Disguise (in which he steals the Liberty Bell), Ready to Rumble, and Batman & Robin—the first and last of these also starring Schwarzenegger. Ventura made a cameo appearance in Major League II as "White Lightning". He appeared as a self-help guru (voice only) in The Ringer, trying to turn Johnny Knoxville into a more confident worker. Ventura had a cameo in The X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" as a Man in Black alongside fellow 'MiB' Alex Trebek. In 2008, Ventura was in the independent comedy Woodshop, starring as high school shop teacher Mr. Madson. The film was released September 7, 2010.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

{{BLP unreferenced section|date=June 2023}}

Ventura was a bodyguard for The Rolling Stones in the late 1970s and 1980s. Its lead singer, Mick Jagger, said of him, "He's done us proud, hasn't he? He's been fantastic."{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19990216&id=l0QfAAAAIBAJ&pg=5197,3671972&hl=en|title=Herald-Journal – Google News Archive Search|access-date=November 27, 2015|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730144558/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19990216&id=l0QfAAAAIBAJ&pg=5197,3671972&hl=en|url-status=live}}

In the late 1980s, Ventura appeared in a series of Miller Lite commercials.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/iLhYcJR67j0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20201110072808/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLhYcJR67j0&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|title=Lite-A-Mania Ad – Miller Lite| date=December 6, 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLhYcJR67j0|language=en|access-date=May 29, 2020}}{{cbignore}}Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/eiG_xEDTxRI Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200816195924/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiG_xEDTxRI&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|title=Jesse "The Body" Ventura Miller Lite Commercial (1988)| date=February 9, 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiG_xEDTxRI|language=en|access-date=May 29, 2020}}{{cbignore}}Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/hU-foTLeQXU Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20201110072746/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU-foTLeQXU&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|title=Jesse Ventura: Miller Lite commercial (1989)| date=February 23, 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU-foTLeQXU|language=en|access-date=May 29, 2020}}{{cbignore}}

In 1989, Ventura co-hosted the four episodes of the DiC Entertainment children's program Record Breakers: World of Speed along with Gary Apple.{{cite web|url=http://www.dicentertainment.com/dic_shows.html#MShows|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040401135740/http://www.dicentertainment.com/dic_shows.html#MShows|archive-date=April 1, 2004|title=DiC Shows|date=April 1, 2004|access-date=December 2, 2011}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=HFBTUhnc9DwC&pg=PA310 The WrestleCrap Book of Lists!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730144504/https://books.google.com/books?id=HFBTUhnc9DwC&pg=PA310 |date=July 30, 2024 }} By R. D. Reynolds, Blade Braxton, page 310 In 1991, the pilot episode for Tag Team, a television program about two ex-professional wrestlers turned police officers, starred Ventura and Roddy Piper.{{cite web|url=http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/tag-team/|title=Tag Team – the lost pilot episode starring Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura!|publisher=I-Mockery.com|access-date=December 2, 2011|archive-date=November 22, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122163444/http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/tag-team/|url-status=live}}

Ventura also co-hosted the short-lived syndicated game show The Grudge Match alongside sportscaster Steve Albert.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Between 1995 and 1998, Ventura had radio call-in shows on KFAN 1130 and KSTP 1500 in Minneapolis–Saint Paul. He also had a brief role on the television soap opera The Young and the Restless in 1999.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}{{Cite news |last=Keck |first=William |date=July 10, 2000 |title=With Gov. Ventura, Call It 'The Young and the Wrestling' |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-10-ca-50298-story.html |access-date=January 27, 2023 |archive-date=January 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127164559/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-10-ca-50298-story.html |url-status=live }}

On April 12, 1996, Ventura starred in The X-Files Season 3 episode {{Citation|title=Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751147/?ref_=ttep_ep20}} as a mysterious Man in Black.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751147/?ref_=ttep_ep20 |title=Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' |via=IMDb}}

Ventura has been criticized by the press for profiting from his heightened popularity. He was hired as a television analyst for the failed XFL football league in 2001, served as a referee at a WWF SummerSlam match in 1999, and published several books during his tenure as governor. On his weekly radio show, he often criticized the media for focusing on these deals rather than his policy proposals.{{cite web |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200201/28_khoom_jessereview/ |title=MPR: Ventura – the year in review |publisher=News.minnesota.publicradio.org |access-date=October 20, 2008 |archive-date=February 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228155356/http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200201/28_khoom_jessereview/ |url-status=live }}

From 2009 to 2012, TruTV aired three seasons of the television series Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura.{{Citation|title=Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura|date=December 2, 2009|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1572498/?ref_=ttep_ep_tt|type=Documentary|publisher=A. Smith & Co. Productions|access-date=October 27, 2021|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027002757/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1572498/?ref_=ttep_ep_tt|url-status=live}}

Ventura had a guest spot on an episode of the 2012 rebooted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series on Nickelodeon.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

In 2013, Ventura announced a new show, Jesse Ventura: Uncensored, which launched on January 27, 2014,{{cite web|title=Jesse Ventura is back with a new show on oratv|url=http://www.ora.tv/mediaroom/view/jesse-ventura-is-back-with-a-new-show-on-oratv|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130072724/http://www.ora.tv/mediaroom/view/jesse-ventura-is-back-with-a-new-show-on-oratv|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 30, 2014|date=January 27, 2014|access-date=March 24, 2016}} and later renamed Off the Grid, and aired until 2016 on Ora TV, an online video on demand network founded by Larry King.{{cite news|url=http://naples.floridaweekly.com/news/2014-10-30/Arts_%28and%29_Entertainment_News/CELEBRITY_EXTRA.html|title=Celebrity Extra|last=Elavsky|first=Cindy|publisher=King Features|date=October 30, 2014|access-date=November 6, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108000828/http://naples.floridaweekly.com/news/2014-10-30/Arts_%28and%29_Entertainment_News/CELEBRITY_EXTRA.html|archive-date=November 8, 2014}}

In 2017, Ventura became the host of the show The World According to Jesse on RT America;{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/08/jesse-venturas-new-russian-state-tv-show-i-am-working-for-the-enemy-of-mainstream-media-now/| title = Jesse Ventura's new Russian state TV show: 'I am working for the enemy of mainstream media now'| newspaper = The Washington Post| access-date = August 22, 2021| archive-date = March 22, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210322094611/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/08/jesse-venturas-new-russian-state-tv-show-i-am-working-for-the-enemy-of-mainstream-media-now/| url-status = live}} the series ended in March 2022 when RT programming produced by its production partner Ora TV was suspended after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.{{cite news|url=https://deadline.com/2022/03/directv-drops-rt-america-russia-ukraine-1234968328/|title=DirecTV Drops RT America In Wake Of Russian Invasion Of Ukraine; Ora Media Pauses Production On Dennis Miller, William Shatner Shows|last=Johnson|first=Ted|date=March 1, 2022|website=Deadline Hollywood|publisher=Penske Media Group|access-date=March 1, 2022|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730145006/https://deadline.com/2022/03/directv-drops-rt-america-russia-ukraine-1234968328/|url-status=live}} RT America ceased operations on March 3, 2022.{{Cite news|last=Darcy|first=Oliver|title=RT America ceases productions and lays off most of its staff|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/03/media/rt-america-layoffs/index.html|access-date=March 3, 2022|date=March 3, 2022|work=CNN|archive-date=March 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307181801/https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/03/media/rt-america-layoffs/index.html|url-status=live}}

{{Expand section|date=August 2018}}

After his departure from the WWF, Ventura took a former high school teacher's advice and ran for mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, in 1990.Jake Tapper, "Body Slam: The Jesse Ventura Story," pp. 105–108 He defeated the city's 18-year incumbent mayor and served from 1991 to 1995.{{cite web|url=http://www.morris.umn.edu/register/article.php?volume=11&issue=5§ion=feature&index=2 |title=Mayor of Brooklyn Park, Jesse Ventura: Reform endorsed candidate |publisher=Morris.umn.edu |author=Carly Skorczewski |date=October 29, 1998 |volume=11 |issue=5 |access-date=October 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107061557/http://www.morris.umn.edu/register/article.php?volume=11&issue=5§ion=feature&index=2|archive-date=January 7, 2009}} Many professional wrestling personalities have entered politics, but Ventura is among the few, including Jim Barnett and Antonio Inoki, to have remained active in wrestling while serving in a government role: he was simultaneously mayor and WCW's color commentator through much of his mayoral tenure.

{{See also|1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election}}

File:Jesse Ventura 2000.jpg Chamber in 2000]]

Ventura ran for governor of Minnesota in 1998 as the Reform Party of Minnesota nominee (he later joined the Independence Party of Minnesota when the Reform Party broke from its association with the Reform Party of the United States of America). His campaign consisted of a combination of aggressive grassroots events organized in part by his campaign manager Doug Friedline and original television spots, designed by quirky adman Bill Hillsman, using the phrase "Don't vote for politics as usual." He spent considerably less than his opponents (about $300,000) and was a pioneer in his using the Internet as a medium of reaching out to voters in a political campaign.{{cite web|url=http://www.howeypolitics.com/2009/06/18/brian-howey-time-to-take-over-the-indiana-libertarian-party/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818140106/http://www.howeypolitics.com/2009/06/18/brian-howey-time-to-take-over-the-indiana-libertarian-party/|archive-date=August 18, 2009|title=Time to Take Over the Indiana Libertarian Party|author=Howey, Brian|access-date=June 26, 2009|date=June 18, 2009}} Retrieved from Internet Archive January 17, 2014.

He won the election in November 1998, narrowly and unexpectedly defeating the major-party candidates, Republican St. Paul mayor Norm Coleman and Democratic-Farmer-Labor Attorney General Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III. During his victory speech, Ventura famously declared, "We shocked the world!"Fisher, Marc. "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/keyraces98/stories/ventura110498.htm Jesse 'The Body' Wins Minn. Gubernatorial Race]." Washington Post. November 4, 1998. Retrieved March 5, 2016. After his election, bumper stickers and T-shirts bearing the slogan "My governor can beat up your governor" appeared in Minnesota. The nickname "Jesse 'The Mind{{'"}} (from a last-minute Hillsman ad featuring Ventura posing as Rodin's Thinker) began to resurface sarcastically in reference to his often controversial remarks. Ventura's old stage name "Jesse 'The Body{{'"}} (sometimes adapted to "Jesse 'The Governing Body{{'"}}) also continued to appear with some regularity.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

After a trade mission to China in 2002, Ventura announced that he would not run for a second term, saying that he no longer felt dedicated enough to his job and accusing the media of hounding him and his family for personal behavior and beliefs while neglecting coverage of important policy issues.{{cite news|date=June 18, 2002|title=Jesse Ventura announces he will not seek second term in November|publisher=seattletimes.nwsource.com|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20020618/webventura18/jesse-ventura-announces-he-will-not-seek-second-term-in-november|access-date=June 22, 2012|archive-date=May 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517051348/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020618&slug=webventura18|url-status=live}} He later told a Boston Globe reporter that he would have run for a second term if he had been single, citing the media's effect on his family life.{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/02/25/the_body_politic/ |title=The Body politic |work=The Boston Globe |author=Joseph P. Kahn |date=February 25, 2004 |access-date=October 20, 2008 |archive-date=September 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907092242/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/02/25/the_body_politic/ |url-status=live }}

Ventura sparked media criticism when, nearing the end of his term, he suggested that he might resign from office early to allow his lieutenant governor, Mae Schunk, an opportunity to serve as governor. He further said that he wanted her to be the state's first female governor and have her portrait painted and hung in the Capitol along with the other governors'. Ventura quickly retreated from the comments, saying he was just floating an idea.{{cite web |url=http://politicalwire.com/archives/2002/10/21/ventura_may_leave_office_early.html |title=Ventura May Leave Office Early – Political Wire |publisher=Politicalwire.com |access-date=October 20, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612030529/http://politicalwire.com/archives/2002/10/21/ventura_may_leave_office_early.html |archive-date=June 12, 2008 }}

File:Jesse Ventura at the hearing on the future of WTO.jpg, March 2000]]

File:Jesse Ventura welcomes George W. Bush and Norm Coleman.jpg and Norm Coleman in 2002]]

In political debates, Ventura often admitted that he had not formed an opinion on certain policy questions. He often called himself "fiscally conservative and socially liberal."{{Cite book|title=Ain't Got Time to Bleed|author=Ventura, Jesse|pages=[https://archive.org/details/iaintgottimetobl00vent_0/page/13 13–14]|isbn=0-451-20086-1|publisher=Signet|year=2000|url=https://archive.org/details/iaintgottimetobl00vent_0/page/13}} He selected teacher Mae Schunk as his running mate.{{cite web |last1=Zdechlik |first1=Mark |title=After they're picked, most lt. gov. candidates have little influence on voters |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/05/28/lieutenant-governor-candidates |website=MPR News |date=May 28, 2010 |access-date=August 23, 2021 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141301/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/05/28/lieutenant-governor-candidates |url-status=live }}

Lacking a party base in the Minnesota House of Representatives and Senate, Ventura's policy ambitions had little chance of being introduced as bills. He vetoed 45 bills in his first year, only three of which were overridden. The reputation for having his vetoes overridden comes from his fourth and final year, when six of his nine vetoes were overridden.{{cite web|url=https://www.lrl.mn.gov/vetoes/vetodetails?gov=6|title=Veto Details, Minnesota Legislature|publisher=Minnesota Legislative Reference Library|access-date=August 24, 2023|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141335/https://www.lrl.mn.gov/vetoes/vetodetails?gov=6|url-status=live}} Nevertheless, Ventura succeeded with some of his initiatives. One of the most notable was the rebate on sales tax; each year of his administration, Minnesotans received a tax-free check in the late summer.{{cite web|url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=d676ae3effb81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |title=National Governors Association |publisher=nga.org |date=November 1, 2008 |access-date=September 3, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629032126/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=d676ae3effb81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD|archive-date=June 29, 2011}} The state was running a budget surplus at the time, and Ventura believed the money should be returned.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Later, Ventura came to support a unicameral (one-house) legislature, property tax reform, gay rights, recreational marijuana, and abortion rights. While funding public school education generously, he opposed the teachers' union, and did not have a high regard for public funding of higher education institutions.{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030401234942/http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=27ventura.h21|archive-date=April 1, 2003|title=Ventura Rumbles With Educators|url=https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/ventura-rumbles-with-educators/2002/03|last=Bowman|first=Darcia Harris|work=Education Week|date=March 20, 2002|volume=21|issue=17|pages=1, 17|access-date=August 24, 2023|url-status=dead}}

In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, he reaffirmed his support of gay rights, including marriage and military service, humorously stating he would have gladly served alongside homosexuals when he was in the Navy as they would have provided less competition for women.{{cite web|url=http://www.howardstern.com/rundown.hs?d=1242705600#14047 |title=The body on the hulk – The Howard Stern Show |publisher=Howardstern.com |date=May 19, 2009 |access-date=June 13, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131155709/http://howardstern.com/rundown.hs?d=1242705600|archive-date=January 31, 2010}} Later, on the subject of a 2012 referendum on amending the Minnesota Constitution to limit marriage to male-female couples, Ventura said, "I certainly hope that people don't amend our constitution to stop gay marriage because, number one, the constitution is there to protect people, not oppress them", and related a story from his wrestling days of a friend who was denied hospital visitation to his same-sex partner.{{cite web |title=Political Notebook: Ventura offers to campaign against marriage amendment |url=http://www.postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1500082 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201102816/http://www.postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1500082 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 1, 2013 |last=Carlson |first=Heather J. |work=Post-Bulletin |date=June 18, 2012 }}

During the first part of his administration, Ventura strongly advocated for land-use reform and substantial mass transit improvements, such as light rail.{{Cite book|title=Don't start the revolution without me!|author=Ventura, Jesse|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing Inc.|year=2008|isbn=978-1-60239-273-1|pages=143–160}}

During another trade mission to Cuba in the summer of 2002, he denounced the United States embargo against Cuba, saying the embargo affected the Cuban public more than it did its government.{{cite web |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200209/25_khoom_cuba1/ |title=MPR: Ventura begins final foreign journey as governor |publisher=News.minnesota.publicradio.org |access-date=October 20, 2008 |archive-date=February 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228155340/http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200209/25_khoom_cuba1/ |url-status=live }}

Ventura greatly disapproved of some of the events at the 2002 memorial for Senator Paul Wellstone, his family, and others who died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. Ventura said, "I feel used. I feel violated and duped over the fact that the memorial ceremony turned into a political rally".{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/ventura-may-tap-independent-to-wellstones-seat-mondale-officially-in-for-dems |title=Ventura May Tap Independent to Wellstone's Seat; Mondale Officially in for Dems |work=Fox News|date=October 31, 2002 |access-date=October 20, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205130655/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C67075%2C00.html |archive-date=February 5, 2011 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/830clrob.asp |title=Honor & Civility, RIP |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615211619/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/830clrob.asp |access-date=October 20, 2008|archive-date=June 15, 2015 }} He left halfway through the controversial speech made by Wellstone's best friend, Rick Kahn. Ventura had initially planned to appoint a Democrat to Wellstone's seat,{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/showdown-in-minnesota-senate-race/ |title=Showdown in Minnesota Senate Race |work=CBS Sports |date=November 5, 2002 |access-date=February 5, 2015 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730145011/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/showdown-in-minnesota-senate-race/ |url-status=live }} but instead appointed Dean Barkley to represent Minnesota in the Senate until Wellstone's term expired in January 2003. Barkley was succeeded by Norm Coleman, who won the seat against Walter Mondale, who replaced Wellstone as the Democratic nominee after Wellstone died a few days before the election."Up Close with Walter Mondale". UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION. University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2020.

File:Tim Walz Jesse Ventura cannabis bill.jpg as governor, Ventura returned to the State Capitol in May 2023 for Governor Tim Walz's signing of a cannabis legalization bill.{{cite news |last1=Ahmed |first1=Trisha |title=Minnesota governor signs bill legalizing recreational marijuana starting in August |url=https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-minnesota-cannabis-legalization-pot-9a92dda1a1025c5b26033a3ad716a004 |access-date=July 17, 2023 |work=Associated Press |date=May 30, 2023}}]]

Ventura, who ran on a Reform Party ticket and advocated for a greater role for third parties in American politics, is highly critical of both Democrats and Republicans. He has called both parties "monsters that are out of control", concerned only with "their own agendas and their pork."{{cite web|title=Jesse Ventura on Principles & Values|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Jesse_Ventura_Principles_+_Values.htm|publisher=ontheissues.org|access-date=May 19, 2012|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141452/https://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Jesse_Ventura_Principles_+_Values.htm|url-status=live}}

In his book Independent Nation, political analyst John Avlon calls Ventura a radical centrist thinker and activist.Avlon, John (2004). Independent Nation: How the Vital Center Is Changing American Politics. Harmony Books / Random House, pp. 177–193 ("Radical Centrists"). {{ISBN|978-1-4000-5023-9}}.

After the legislature refused to increase spending for security, Ventura attracted criticism when he decided not to live in the governor's mansion during his tenure, choosing instead to shut it down and stay at his home in Maple Grove.{{cite news |title=Minnesota governor's mansion closed by Ventura |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20020501&slug=jesse01 |access-date=January 17, 2021 |date=May 1, 2002 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141303/https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20020501&slug=jesse01 |url-status=live }}

In 1999, a group of disgruntled citizens petitioned to recall Governor Ventura, alleging, among other things, that "the use of state security personnel to protect the governor on a book promotion tour constituted illegal use of state property for personal gain." The proposed petition was dismissed by order of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Minnesota.In Re Proposed Petition to Recall Governor Jesse Ventura {{cite web| url = http://wrestlingperspective.com/legal/ventura.html| title = Wrestling Perspective: In Re Proposed Petition to Recall Governor Jesse Ventura| access-date = February 11, 2010| archive-date = October 10, 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081010210033/http://wrestlingperspective.com/legal/ventura.html| url-status = live}} Under Minnesota law, the Chief Justice must review recall petitions for legal sufficiency, and, upon such review, the Chief Justice determined that it did not allege the commission of any act that violated Minnesota law. Ventura sought attorney's fees as a sanction for the filing of a frivolous petition for recall, but that request was denied on the ground that there was no statutory authority for such an award.In re Proposed Petition to Recall Governor Ventura, 600 N.W.2d 714 (Minn. 1999).

Ventura was also criticized for mishandling the Minnesota state budget, with Minnesota state economist Tom Stinson noting that the statewide capital gain fell from $9 billion to $4 billion between 2000 and 2001.{{cite news|url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2003/03/10_mulcahym_howwegothere/|title=The budget mess: How we got here/|first1=Laura|last1=McCallum|first2=Mike|last2=Mulcahy|publisher=Minnesota Public Radio|date=March 19, 2020|access-date=March 20, 2020|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730150117/http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2003/03/10_mulcahym_howwegothere/|url-status=live}} Ventura had vetoed this budget, but the state legislature overrode him.{{Cite web |title=Bills Vetoed by Governors - Details - Minnesota Legislative Reference Library |url=https://www.lrl.mn.gov/Vetoes/vetodetails?gov=6 |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=www.lrl.mn.gov |archive-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812215222/https://www.lrl.mn.gov/Vetoes/vetodetails?gov=6 |url-status=live }} This deficit received national attention, for instance making a 10-question interview by Time journalist Matthew Cooper with Ventura.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/2002/04/29/ventura.html|title=10 Questions For Jesse Ventura|first=Matthew|last=Cooper|work=CNN|date=April 24, 2002|access-date=April 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020806030928/https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/2002/04/29/ventura.html|archive-date=August 6, 2002|url-status=dead}} When Ventura left office in 2003, Minnesota had a $4.2 billion budget deficit, compared to the $3 billion budget surplus when Ventura took office in 1999.

During his tenure as governor, Ventura drew frequent fire from the Twin Cities press. He called reporters "media jackals," with the label "Official Jackal" even appearing on the press passes required to enter his press area.{{cite web|url=http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=14279 |title=Provocative Press Pass Miffs Minnesota Media |work=Stateline|date=February 26, 2001 |first=Lynda|last=McConnell |access-date=August 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713075616/https://stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=14279|archive-date=July 13, 2007|url-status=dead}} Shortly after Ventura's election as governor, author and humorist Garrison Keillor wrote a satirical book about him, Me: Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente, depicting a self-aggrandizing former "Navy W.A.L.R.U.S. (Water Air Land Rising Up Suddenly)" turned professional wrestler turned politician. Ventura initially responded angrily to the satire, but later said Keillor "makes Minnesota proud".{{cite web|url=http://www.current.org/people/peop908g.html |title=Current.org | Keillor v. Ventura |publisher=Current.org |access-date=October 20, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080715070632/http://www.current.org/people/peop908g.html |archive-date = July 15, 2008}} During his term, Ventura appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, in which he responded controversially to the following question: "So which is the better city of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis or St. Paul?". Ventura responded, "Minneapolis. Those streets in St. Paul must have been designed by drunken Irishmen". He later apologized for the remark, saying it was not intended to be taken seriously.{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07E3DD173CF935A15751C0A96F958260&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/V/Ventura,%20Jesse |title=Gov. Ventura Stumbles – New York Times |publisher=Query.nytimes.com |date=February 26, 1999 |access-date=October 20, 2008 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730150554/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/26/us/gov-ventura-stumbles.html |url-status=live }}

File:Jesse Ventura in Los Angeles, July 2007 cropped.jpg

While Ventura has not held public office since the end of his term as governor in 2003, he has remained politically active and occasionally hinted at running again for political office. In an April 7, 2008, interview on CNN's The Situation Room, Ventura said he was considering entering the race for the United States Senate seat then held by Norm Coleman, his Republican opponent in the 1998 gubernatorial race. A Twin Cities station Fox 9 poll put him at 24%, behind Democratic candidate Al Franken at 32% and Coleman at 39% in a hypothetical three-way race. On Larry King Live on July 14, 2008, Ventura said he would not run, partly out of concern for his family's privacy.{{cite news |last=Falcone |first=Michael |title=Ventura Decides Against Senate Run |work=The Caucus |date=July 14, 2008 |url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/ventura-decides-against-senate-run/ |access-date=July 14, 2008 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730150502/https://archive.nytimes.com/thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/ventura-decides-against-senate-run/ |url-status=live }} Franken won the election by a very narrow margin.{{cite news|url=http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2009/06/30/9950/coleman-franken_senate_race_the_day_the_recount_ended_and_the_fight_turned_into_something_really_nice|title=Coleman-Franken Senate race: The day the recount ended and the fight turned into something really nice|access-date=March 11, 2021|work=Minnpost|date=June 30, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421190703/https://www.minnpost.com/stories/2009/06/30/9950/coleman-franken_senate_race_the_day_the_recount_ended_and_the_fight_turned_into_something_really_nice|archive-date=April 21, 2010}}

In his 1999 autobiography I Ain't Got Time to Bleed, Ventura suggested that he did not plan to run for president of the United States but did not rule it out. In 2003, he expressed interest in running for president while accepting an award from the International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Newton, Iowa.{{Cite news|url=https://classicwrestlingarticles.wordpress.com/2018/09/07/ventura-interested-in-running-for-president/|title=Ventura Interested in Running For President|date=September 7, 2018|work=Classic Wrestling Articles|access-date=September 14, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141310/https://classicwrestlingarticles.wordpress.com/2018/09/07/ventura-interested-in-running-for-president/|url-status=live}} He spoke at Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's "Rally for the Republic", organized by the Campaign for Liberty, on September 2, 2008, and implied a possible future run for president. At the end of his speech, Ventura announced if he saw that the public was willing to see a change in the direction of the country, then "in 2012 we'll give them a race they'll never forget!" In 2011, Ventura expressed interest in running with Ron Paul in the 2012 presidential election if Paul would run as an independent.{{cite web|last=Barr|first=Andy|title=Jesse Ventura wants to be Ron Paul's 2012 running mate|date=April 4, 2011|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52516.html|publisher=Politico|access-date=October 2, 2011|archive-date=August 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810015831/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52516.html|url-status=live}} On November 4, 2011, Ventura said at a press conference about the dismissal of his court case against the Transportation Security Administration for what he claimed were illegal searches of air travelers that he was "thinking about" running for president.{{cite news| url=http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_19265340?source=rss| author=Emily Gurnon| title=Angry Jesse Ventura thinking about presidential run| publisher=TwinCities.com| date=November 4, 2011| access-date=November 10, 2011| archive-date=August 25, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825081020/http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_19265340?source=rss| url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/11/04/judge-dismisses-venturas-lawsuit-over-tsa-pat-downs/|title=Ventura, Miffed Over Lawsuit, Says He's Off To Mexico|publisher=WCCO/AP|date=November 4, 2011|access-date=February 5, 2015|archive-date=January 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120165505/http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/11/04/judge-dismisses-venturas-lawsuit-over-tsa-pat-downs/|url-status=live}} Ventura was reportedly in talks with the Libertarian Party to run for president on its ticket, but party chairman Mark Hinkle said, "Jesse is more interested in 2016 than he is in 2012. But I think he's serious. If Ron Paul ran as a Libertarian, I think he definitely would be interested in running as a vice presidential candidate. He's thinking, 'If I run as the vice presidential candidate under Ron Paul in 2012, I could run as a presidential candidate in 2016'."{{cite web|last=Epstein|first=Reid J.|title=Gary Johnson eyes Libertarians, who eye Ventura|date=November 30, 2011 |url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69398.html|publisher=Politico|access-date=February 26, 2012}}

David Gewirtz of ZDNet wrote in a November 2011 article that he thought Ventura could win if he declared his intention to run at that point and ran a serious campaign, but that it would be a long shot.{{cite news| url=https://www.zdnet.com/topic/government/?pg=2| author=David Gewirtz| title=Is there any possible way Jesse Ventura could win the Presidency?| work=ZDNet| date=November 8, 2011| access-date=July 5, 2024| archive-date=July 30, 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141306/https://www.zdnet.com/topic/government/?pg=2| url-status=live}}

In late 2015, Ventura publicly flirted with the idea of running for president in 2016 as a Libertarian but allowed his self-imposed deadline of May 1 to pass.{{cite web|last1=Ventura|first1=Jesse|title=Why I'm voting for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson for president|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/13/jesse-ventura-why-im-voting-for-libertarian-candidate-gary-johnson-for-president-commentary.html|website=CNBC|access-date=July 13, 2016|date=July 13, 2016|archive-date=July 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713211214/http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/13/jesse-ventura-why-im-voting-for-libertarian-candidate-gary-johnson-for-president-commentary.html|url-status=live}} He also expressed an openness to be either Donald Trump's or Bernie Sanders's running mate in 2016.{{cite news |author=Daniella Diaz |title=Jesse Ventura hopes Trump considers him for VP |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/12/politics/donald-trump-jesse-ventura-roger-stone-vice-president/index.html |access-date=December 23, 2019 |work=CNNPolitics |date=August 13, 2015 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141447/https://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/12/politics/donald-trump-jesse-ventura-roger-stone-vice-president/index.html |url-status=live }} Ventura tried to officially endorse Sanders but his endorsement was rejected.{{cite news |title=Jesse Ventura says Bernie Sanders politely but firmly declined his endorsement |url=https://theweek.com/speedreads/609396/jesse-ventura-says-bernie-sanders-politely-but-firmly-declined-endorsement |access-date=March 28, 2020 |work=theweek.com |date=February 29, 2016 |language=en |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141316/https://theweek.com/speedreads/609396/jesse-ventura-says-bernie-sanders-politely-but-firmly-declined-endorsement |url-status=live }} Ventura then endorsed former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, the Libertarian nominee, saying, "Johnson is a very viable alternative" and "This is the year for a third-party candidate to rise if there ever was one."{{cite web|last1=Ventura|first1=Jesse|title=Jesse Ventura: Why voters should listen to Gov. Gary Johnson|url=http://www.ora.tv/offthegrid/article/2016/6/1/jesse-ventura-why-voters-should-listen-to-gov-gary-johnson|website=Ora TV|access-date=June 28, 2016|archive-date=July 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703141543/http://www.ora.tv/offthegrid/article/2016/6/1/jesse-ventura-why-voters-should-listen-to-gov-gary-johnson|url-status=dead}} Despite this, he later claimed that he ultimately voted for Green Party nominee Jill Stein.{{cite tweet |user=GovJVentura |author=Jesse Ventura |number=908846088290942977 |date=September 15, 2017 |title=Jesse Ventura Retweeted – Who said I voted for Trump? Not me. Look it up. I voted for @DrJillStein (to set the record straight) |access-date=October 6, 2019}}

Ventura expressed interest in running for president again in 2020, but said he would do so only under the Green Party banner.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/7DU0QP4jQ3s Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20180511041822/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DU0QP4jQ3s&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|last1=Dore|first1=Jimmy|title=How Jesse Ventura Would Run For President in 2020 -pt. 3|website=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DU0QP4jQ3s|date=May 10, 2018}}{{cbignore}} "The [Green Party] has shown some interest. I haven't made a decision yet because it's a long time off. If I do do it, Trump will not have a chance. For one, Trump knows wrestling. He participated in two WrestleManias. He knows he can never out-talk a wrestler, and he knows I'm the greatest talker wrestling's ever had."{{cite web|title=JESSE VENTURA CONSIDERING PRESIDENTIAL RUN'Trump Will Not Have a Chance!'|url=https://www.tmz.com/2018/11/28/jesse-ventura-running-president-trump-wrestlemania/|date=November 28, 2018|access-date=February 20, 2020|archive-date=September 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927135439/https://www.tmz.com/2018/11/28/jesse-ventura-running-president-trump-wrestlemania/|url-status=live}}

On April 27, 2020, Ventura submitted a letter of interest to the Green Party Presidential Support Committee, the first step to seeking the Green Party's presidential nomination.{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/GovJVentura/status/1254783039642595330|title=GovJVentura – status|date=April 27, 2020|website=Twitter|access-date=April 27, 2020|archive-date=April 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428052056/https://twitter.com/GovJVentura/status/1254783039642595330|url-status=live}} In May, he announced that he would not run for health reasons, explaining that he would lose his employer-provided health insurance.{{cite web |title=Former Gov. Jesse Ventura Announces He Will Not Be Running For President |date=May 8, 2020 |url=https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/05/08/former-gov-jesse-ventura-announces-he-will-not-be-running-for-president/ |publisher=CBS Minnesota |access-date=May 15, 2020 |archive-date=May 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521135522/https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/05/08/former-gov-jesse-ventura-announces-he-will-not-be-running-for-president/ |url-status=live }}

Ventura said he would write in his own name in the presidential election, but would support Green candidates in down-ballot races. He said he "refuse[s] to vote for 'the lesser of two evils' because in the end, that's still choosing evil."{{cite tweet |last1=Ventura |first1=Jesse |user=GovJVentura|number=1253146870844657664 |access-date=April 22, 2020 |date=April 22, 2020 |title=I keep getting asked who I'm voting for, if I'm going to endorse anyone, if I'm going to run. Let me be clear: I have ZERO confidence in Democrats and Republicans. I refuse to vote for "the lesser of two evils" because in the end, that's still choosing evil.}} Ventura received seven presidential delegate votes at the 2020 Green National Convention, having been awarded them through write-in votes in the 2020 Green primaries. Despite the national Green Party nominating Howie Hawkins for president and Angela Nicole Walker for vice president, the Green Party of Alaska nominated Ventura and former representative Cynthia McKinney without Ventura's consent. Ventura and McKinney received 0.7% of the Alaska popular vote.{{Cite news|last=Downing|first=Suzanne|date=September 1, 2020|title=Green Party of Alaska nominates Jesse Ventura for president|work=Must Read Alaska|url=https://mustreadalaska.com/green-party-of-alaska-nominates-jesse-ventura-for-president/|access-date=September 4, 2020|archive-date=September 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902054752/https://mustreadalaska.com/green-party-of-alaska-nominates-jesse-ventura-for-president/|url-status=live}}

Ventura has described himself as "fiscally conservative" and "socially liberal". He has said his first memory of political independence is voting for John Anderson for president in 1980.

In a May 11, 2009, interview with Larry King, Ventura twice said that George W. Bush was the worst president of his lifetime, adding "President Obama inherited something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. You know? Two wars, an economy that's borderline depression." On the issue of waterboarding, Ventura added:

{{blockquote|I will criticize President Obama on this level: it's a good thing I'm not president because I would prosecute every person that was involved in that torture. I would prosecute the people that did it. I would prosecute the people that ordered it. Because torture is against the law. [King: And you were a Navy SEAL.] That's right, and I was waterboarded... at SERE school, Survival Escape Resistance Evasion {{sic}}. It was a required school you had to go to prior to going into the combat zone, which in my era was Vietnam. All of us had to go there. We were all in essence, every one of us was waterboarded. It is torture. [King: What was it like?] It's drowning. It gives you the complete sensation that you are drowning. It's no good, because you{{mdash}}I'll put it to you this way, you give me a water board, Dick Cheney, and one hour, and I'll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders... If it's done wrong, you certainly could drown. You could swallow your tongue. [It] could do a whole bunch of stuff to you. If it's done wrong or{{mdash}}it's torture, Larry. It's torture.{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0905/11/lkl.01.html|title=CNN Larry King Live: The Dirt on Joan Rivers' Win; Will Carrie Prejean Lose Her Title?; Interview With Jesse Ventura|work=CNN|date=May 11, 2009|access-date=February 15, 2015|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730150503/https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2009-05-11/segment/01|url-status=live}}}}

In April and May 2008, in several radio interviews for his new book Don't Start the Revolution Without Me, Ventura expressed concern about what he called unanswered questions about 9/11.{{cite web|url=http://www.howardstern.com/rundown.hs?d=1211342400#11961|title=Jesse The Body Sounds Off|publisher=howardstern.com|date=May 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131153711/http://howardstern.com/rundown.hs?d=1211342400|archive-date=January 31, 2010}} His remarks about the possibility that the World Trade Center was demolished with explosives were repeated in newspaper and television stories after some of the interviews.[http://www.kxnet.com/custom404.asp?404;http://www.kxnet.com/News/225221.asp Ventura says he regrets initial acceptance of 9/11 explanations], Associated Press, April 3, 2008 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813100813/http://www.kxnet.com/custom404.asp?404%3Bhttp%3A//www.kxnet.com/News/225221.asp |date=August 13, 2011 }}

On May 18, 2009, when asked by Sean Hannity of Fox News how George W. Bush could have avoided the September 11 attacks, Ventura answered, "And there it is again—you pay attention to memos on August 6th that tell you exactly what bin Laden's gonna do."{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/19/jesse-ventura-gets-in-the_n_205146.html |title=Jesse Ventura, Hannity Go Head-To-Head |publisher=HuffPost |date=May 19, 2009 |access-date=June 13, 2010 |first=Jason |last=Linkins |archive-date=August 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822104925/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/19/jesse-ventura-gets-in-the_n_205146.html |url-status=live }}

On April 9, 2011, when Piers Morgan of CNN asked Ventura for his official view of the events of 9/11, Ventura said, "My theory of 9/11 is that we certainly—at the best we knew it was going to happen. They allowed it to happen to further their agenda in the Middle East and go to these wars."{{cite news|title=PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT Interview With Jesse Ventura|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1104/09/pmt.01.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=October 20, 2012|archive-date=May 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515124449/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1104/09/pmt.01.html|url-status=live}}

File:Jesse Ventura 2827650892 Agent Cody Banks Flickr.jpg's "Rally for the Republic" in 2008]]

Ventura was succeeded in office on January 6, 2003, by Republican Tim Pawlenty.

In October 2003 he began a weekly MSNBC show, Jesse Ventura's America; the show was canceled after a couple of months. Ventura has alleged it was canceled because he opposed the Iraq War. MSNBC honored the balance of his three-year contract, legally preventing him from doing any other TV or news shows.{{cite news|last=Collins|first=Scott|title=Jesse Ventura searches for coverups|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-nov-29-la-ca-conversation29-2009nov29-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 17, 2014|date=November 29, 2009|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730150638/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-nov-29-la-ca-conversation29-2009nov29-story.html|url-status=live}}

On October 22, 2004, with Ventura by his side, former Maine Governor Angus King endorsed John Kerry for president at the Minnesota state capitol building. Ventura did not speak at the press conference. When prodded for a statement, King responded, "He plans to vote for John Kerry, but he doesn't want to make a statement and subject himself to the tender mercies of the Minnesota press".{{cite web |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/10/28_mccalluml_venturakerry/ |title=MPR: Speechless no more, Ventura stumps for Kerry at colleges |publisher=News.minnesota.publicradio.org |access-date=October 20, 2008 |archive-date=September 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907044559/http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/10/28_mccalluml_venturakerry/ |url-status=live }} In the 2012 Senate elections, Ventura endorsed King in his campaign for the open Senate seat in Maine, which King won.{{cite web|last=Gavin|first=Patrick|title=Jesse Ventura goes gangsta in political tome|date=June 13, 2012|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77395.html|publisher=Politico|access-date=April 11, 2013|archive-date=July 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720010226/http://www.politico.com//news/stories/0612/77395.html|url-status=live}}

In November 2004, an advertisement began airing in California featuring Ventura, in which he voiced his opposition to then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's policies regarding Native American casinos.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4Rd1yXBGWIC&pg=PA137|isbn=978-1-60239-716-3|page=137|title=Don't Start the Revolution Without Me!|author=Jesse Ventura|date=2009|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing }} Ventura served as an advisory board member for a group called Operation Truth, a nonprofit organization set up "to give voice to troops who served in Iraq." "The current use of the National Guard is wrong....These are men who did not sign up to go occupy foreign nations".{{cite web|url=http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-ARMYPAPER-323322.php |title=Army News, benefits, careers, entertainment, photos, promotions |publisher=Armytimes.com |access-date=October 20, 2008}}

In August 2005, Ventura became the spokesperson for BetUS, an online sportsbook.{{cite web|url=http://www.betus.com/site-siteJesseVideo.asp |title=BetUs Events |date=October 15, 2007 |access-date=June 13, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060720160431/http://www.betus.com/site-siteJesseVideo.asp|archive-date=July 20, 2006 }}

On December 29, 2011, Ventura announced his support for Ron Paul on The Alex Jones Show in the 2012 presidential election as "the only anti-war candidate." Like Paul, Ventura is known for supporting a less interventionist foreign policy.{{Cite web|url=https://ivn.us/2010/03/10/jesse-ventura-calls-out-democrats-republicans-and-tea-party/|title=Jesse Ventura calls out Democrats, Republicans, and the Tea Party|date=March 10, 2010|website=IVN.us|language=en|access-date=May 21, 2019|archive-date=June 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614171805/https://ivn.us/2010/03/10/jesse-ventura-calls-out-democrats-republicans-and-tea-party/|url-status=live}} But after Mitt Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee in May 2012, Ventura gave his support to Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson on June 12, 2012, who Ventura argued was the choice for voters who "really want to rebel."{{cite web|last=Martel|first=Frances|title=Jesse Ventura Tells CNN Morning Crew Why Politicians Should Wear NASCAR Outfits|url=http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jesse-ventura-tells-cnn-morning-crew-why-politicians-should-wear-nascar-outfits/|publisher=mediaite.com|access-date=June 13, 2012|date=June 12, 2012|archive-date=November 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113214031/http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jesse-ventura-tells-cnn-morning-crew-why-politicians-should-wear-nascar-outfits/|url-status=live}}

In September 2012, Ventura and his wife appeared in an advertisement calling for voters to reject a referendum to be held in Minnesota during the November elections that amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The referendum was defeated.{{cite web|title=Jesse Ventura campaigns against anti-gay marriage amendment|url=http://www.wisconsingazette.com/breaking-news/jesse-ventura-campaigns-against-anti-gay-marriage-amendment.html|publisher=wisconsingazette.com|access-date=January 12, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130217012126/http://www.wisconsingazette.com/breaking-news/jesse-ventura-campaigns-against-anti-gay-marriage-amendment.html|archive-date=February 17, 2013}}{{cite news|title=Minnesota Amendment 1 Same-Sex Marriage Ballot Measure Fails|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/minnesota-amendment-1-results-2012_n_2050310.html|access-date=January 12, 2013|work=Huffington Post|first=Noah|last=Michelson|date=November 7, 2012|archive-date=January 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111111128/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/minnesota-amendment-1-results-2012_n_2050310.html|url-status=live}}

In October 2022, Ventura endorsed incumbent governor Tim Walz for reelection in an advertisement, praising Walz's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, protection of women's rights, and protection of democracy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jesse-ventura-endorsement-tim-walz-democrat-minnesota-governor/|website=cbsnews.com|title=Jesse Ventura endorses Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for reelection in Minnesota|last=Watson|first=Kathryn|date=October 27, 2022|access-date=February 4, 2024|archive-date=February 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204040838/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jesse-ventura-endorsement-tim-walz-democrat-minnesota-governor/|url-status=live}}

File:Jesse Ventura & Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (53514555070).jpg at a

2024 Presidential campaign rally]]

In March 2024, after Ventura publicly endorsed his independent presidential bid, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shortlisted him as a candidate for vice president on his campaign ticket; many states require one to meet ballot access deadlines.{{Cite news |last=O’Brien |first=Rebecca Davis |date=2024-03-12 |title=Aaron Rodgers and Jesse Ventura Top R.F.K. Jr.'s List for Running Mate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/us/politics/rfk-jr-aaron-rodgers-jesse-ventura.html |access-date=2024-03-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314035940/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/us/politics/rfk-jr-aaron-rodgers-jesse-ventura.html |url-status=live }}

After Kennedy withdrew from the race and Kamala Harris chose Walz as her running mate, Ventura endorsed Harris. He strongly defended Walz against attacks by Republicans questioning his military service, pointing out that Walz served well after he reached retirement age. He accused Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance of hypocrisy for attacking Walz while standing behind Donald Trump, who avoided being drafted in the Vietnam War.{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Ryan |title=Jesse Ventura Endorses Kamala Harris For President Of The United States Of America |url=https://www.ewrestlingnews.com/news/wwe/jesse-ventura-endorses-kamala-harris-for-president-of-the-united-states-of-america/amp |website=Ewrestlingnews |date=August 10, 2024 |access-date=10 August 2024}}

{{Main|American Conspiracies}}

File:JesseVentura2.jpg

Ventura wrote several other books after leaving office. On April 1, 2008, his Don't Start the Revolution Without Me was released. In it, Ventura describes a hypothetical campaign in which he is an independent candidate for president of the United States in 2008. In an interview with the Associated Press at the time of the book's release, Ventura denied any plans for a presidential bid, saying that the scenario was only imaginary and not indicative of a "secret plan to run".Freed, Joshua.[https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-31-415832547_x.htm "Ventura:No Plans to Run Again, but..."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020224946/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-31-415832547_x.htm |date=October 20, 2011 }}, Associated Press. Retrieved April 1, 2008. On MinnPost.com, Ventura's agent, Steve Schwartz, said of the book, "[Ventura is revealing] why he left politics and discussing the disastrous war in Iraq, why he sees our two-party system as corrupt, and what Fidel Castro told him about who was really behind the assassination of President Kennedy."{{cite web|url=http://www.minnpost.com/joekimball/2007/11/14/96/jesses_back_new_ventura_book_revolution_will_cover_political_waterfront|title=Jesse's back! New Ventura book 'Revolution' will cover political waterfront|work=MinnPost|access-date=November 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610011922/http://www.minnpost.com/joekimball/2007/11/14/96/jesses_back_new_ventura_book_revolution_will_cover_political_waterfront/|archive-date=June 10, 2011|url-status=dead}}

Ventura also wrote DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans: No More Gangs in Government, which was released on June 11, 2012. The book expresses Ventura's opposition to the two-party system and calls for political parties to be abolished.{{cite web|last=Harper|first=Jennifer|title=Inside the Beltway: Bipartisan gangland|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/14/inside-the-beltway-bipartisan-gangland/|publisher=washingtontimes.com|access-date=May 24, 2012|archive-date=May 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524073011/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/may/14/inside-the-beltway-bipartisan-gangland/|url-status=live}}

On September 6, 2016, Jesse Ventura's Marijuana Manifesto was released, making the case for the legalization of cannabis and detailing the various special interests that benefit from keeping it illegal.{{cite book |last1=Ventura |first1=Jesse |title=Jesse Ventura's Marijuana Manifesto |date=September 6, 2016 |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |isbn=978-1510714243 |pages=316 }}

{{Main|Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura}}

In December 2009, Ventura hosted TruTV's new show Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura.{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/jesse-ventura-working-on_n_130477.html |title=Jesse Ventura Working on Conspiracy Theory Series For truTV |publisher=HuffPost |date=September 30, 2008 |access-date=June 13, 2010 |archive-date=February 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201205148/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/jesse-ventura-working-on_n_130477.html |url-status=live }} "Ventura will hunt down answers, plunging viewers into a world of secret meetings, midnight surveillance, shifty characters and dark forces," truTV said in a statement. On the program, Ventura traveled the country, investigating cases and getting input from believers and skeptics before passing judgment on a theory's validity.{{cite web|url=http://news.turner.com/press_kits.cfm?presskit_id=163 |title=TruTv:Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura |publisher=News.turner.com |access-date=December 15, 2012}} According to TruTV, the first episode drew 1.6 million viewers, a record for a new series on the network.{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/12/03/conspiracy-theory-with-jesse-ventura-delivers-1-6-million-viewers-trutv%E2%80%99s-biggest-audience-ever-for-a-new-series-launch/35201/ |title=Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura Delivers 1.6 Million Viewers, truTV's Biggest Audience Ever for a New Series Launch |publisher=TV by the Numbers |date=December 3, 2009 |access-date=April 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110413053637/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2009/12/03/conspiracy-theory-with-jesse-ventura-delivers-1-6-million-viewers-trutv%E2%80%99s-biggest-audience-ever-for-a-new-series-launch/35201 |archive-date=April 13, 2011 }}

The first season was followed by a second in 2010 and a third in 2012.[http://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/episodes/index.html Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura Second Season episode list] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111205191005/http://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/episodes/index.html |date=December 5, 2011 }}, TruTv.com After three seasons, the show was discontinued in 2013,{{cite web|last=Ragsdale|first=Jim|title=Jesse Ventura says 2016 offers best shot for independent presidential candidate|url=http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/209742001.html|publisher=StarTribune|access-date=August 31, 2013|archive-date=September 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920084247/http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/209742001.html|url-status=live}} but as of 2017 it is still shown worldwide on satellite TV.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

On July 31, 2014, Ventura launched a weekly podcast, We The People, distributed by Adam Carolla's "Carolla Digital",{{cite web|url=http://www.talkers.com/tag/adam-carolla/|title=Adam Carolla : TALKERS.COM|access-date=November 27, 2015|archive-date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208133651/http://www.talkers.com/tag/adam-carolla/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/we-people-jesse-ventura/id904044124?mt=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629115309/https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/we-people-jesse-ventura/id904044124?mt=2|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 29, 2015|title=We The People with Jesse Ventura|work=iTunes|access-date=November 27, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://thegarynullshow.podbean.com/e/jesse-ventura-112514/|title=The Gary Null Show|access-date=November 27, 2015|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141919/https://thegarynullshow.podbean.com/e/jesse-ventura-112514/|url-status=live}} which ran until March 4, 2015.{{cite web|url=http://rare.us/story/jesse-ventura-msm-in-lockstep-with-the-government/|title=Jesse Ventura: "MSM in lockstep with the government"|work=Rare|access-date=November 27, 2015|archive-date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208181413/http://rare.us/story/jesse-ventura-msm-in-lockstep-with-the-government/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ora.tv/offthegrid/article/2014/7/30/we-the-people-with-jesse-ventura|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924061441/http://www.ora.tv/offthegrid/article/2014/7/30/we-the-people-with-jesse-ventura|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 24, 2015|title=We the People with Jesse Ventura|work=Ora TV|access-date=November 27, 2015}} Guests included Larry King,{{cite web|url=http://www.timessquaregossip.com/2015/01/larry-king-talks-marijuana-with-jesse.html|title=Times Square Gossip|author=James Edstrom|date=January 12, 2015|access-date=November 27, 2015|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730150505/http://www.timessquaregossip.com/2015/01/larry-king-talks-marijuana-with-jesse.html|url-status=live}} Bill Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Roddy Piper, Donald Trump, Mark Dice, and leading members of the 9/11 Truth movement.{{cite web|url=http://911debunkers.blogspot.com/2014/09/coast-to-coast-am-september-4-2014-911.html|title=Debunking the Debunkers: Coast To Coast AM – September 4, 2014 9/11 Truth & Prophecy|access-date=November 27, 2015|date=September 14, 2014|archive-date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208225713/http://911debunkers.blogspot.com/2014/09/coast-to-coast-am-september-4-2014-911.html|url-status=live}}

Bill Salisbury, an attorney in San Diego and a former Navy SEAL officer, has accused Ventura of "pretending" to be a SEAL. He wrote that Ventura blurred an important distinction by claiming to be a SEAL when he was actually a frogman with the UDT. Compared to SEAL teams, UDTs saw less combat and took fewer casualties.{{cite web |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199912/14_kastem_seals/ |title=MPR: Battling Seals |publisher=News.minnesota.publicradio.org |date=December 14, 1999 |access-date=June 13, 2010 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730141817/http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199912/14_kastem_seals/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EYkxAAAAIBAJ&pg=4203,170203 |title=Ventura brushes off criticism of SEAL training |access-date=December 2, 2011 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730151109/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EYkxAAAAIBAJ&pg=4203,170203 |url-status=live }}

Salisbury described Ventura's Navy training thus:

[Ventura] took a screening test at boot camp to qualify for...Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training...Those who completed BUD/S, when [Ventura] was in training, were sent to either a SEAL or an underwater demolition team. Graduation did not, however, authorize the trainee to call himself a SEAL or a UDT frogman. He had to first successfully complete a six-month probationary period in the Teams.{{cite news |url=http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1999/dec/02/jesse-great-pretender-ventura/ |title=Jesse "The Great Pretender" Ventura |newspaper=San Diego Reader |access-date=2010-06-13 |archive-date=August 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802221147/https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1999/dec/02/jesse-great-pretender-ventura/ |url-status=live }}

Responding to the controversy, Ventura's office confirmed that he was a member of the UDT. His spokesman said that Ventura has never tried to convince people otherwise. Ventura said, "Today we refer to all of us as SEALs. That's all it is." He dismissed the accusations of lying about being a SEAL as "much ado about nothing".

Former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, the editor of the website SOFREP.com, wrote in a column on the site, "Jesse Ventura graduated with Basic Underwater Demolition Class 58 and, like it or not, he earned his status." He disagreed with the argument that Ventura was a UDT and not a SEAL, saying "try telling that to a WWII UDT veteran who swam ashore before the landing craft on D-Day." "The UDTs and SEALs are essentially one and the same. It's why the UDT is still part of the training acronym BUD/S", Webb wrote.{{cite web|url=http://sofrep.com/36086/truth-jesse-venturas-navy-seal-status/|title=The Truth About Jesse Ventura's Navy SEAL Status|author=Brandon Webb|date=July 11, 2014|access-date=October 9, 2014|publisher=SOFREP.com|archive-date=October 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013231110/http://sofrep.com/36086/truth-jesse-venturas-navy-seal-status/|url-status=live}}

In January 2011, Ventura filed a lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration, seeking a declaration that the agency's new controversial pat-down policy violated citizens' Fourth Amendment rights and an injunction to bar the TSA from subjecting him to the pat-down procedures. Ventura received a titanium hip replacement in 2008 that sets off metal detectors at airport security checkpoints.{{cite news|last=Hunter|first=Marnie|title=Jesse Ventura slams TSA with lawsuit|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/25/jesse.ventura.tsa.lawsuit/index.html|date=September 27, 2011|work=CNN|access-date=August 4, 2018|archive-date=August 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804232046/http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/25/jesse.ventura.tsa.lawsuit/index.html|url-status=live}}

The U.S. district court dismissed the suit for lack of jurisdiction in November 2011, ruling that "challenges to TSA orders, policies and procedures" must be brought only in the U.S. courts of appeals.{{cite web|last1=Koeninger|first1=Kevin|title=Jesse Ventura Can't Fight Airport Screening Rules|url=http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/11/08/41290.htm|publisher=Courthouse News Service|date=November 8, 2011|access-date=November 21, 2014|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923210847/http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/11/08/41290.htm|url-status=live}} After the court's ruling, Ventura held a press conference in which he called the federal judges cowards; said he no longer felt patriotic and would henceforth refer to the U.S. as the "Fascist States of America"; said he would never take commercial flights again; said he would seek dual citizenship in Mexico; and said he would "never stand for a national anthem again" and would instead raise a fist.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.mprnews.org/capitol-view/2011/11/jesse_ventura_i/|title=Jesse Ventura: 'I will never stand for the national anthem again.'|author=Tom Scheck|date=November 4, 2011|publisher=Minnesota Public Radio|access-date=August 4, 2018|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730151113/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/11/04/jesse-ventura-i-will-never-stand-for-the-national-anthem-again|url-status=live}}

During a January 2012 interview on Opie and Anthony to promote his autobiography American Sniper, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle said he had punched Ventura in 2006 at a bar in Coronado, California, during a wake for Michael A. Monsoor, a fellow SEAL who had been killed in Iraq. According to Kyle, Ventura was vocally expressing opposition to the War in Iraq. Kyle, who wrote about the alleged incident in his book but did not mention Ventura by name, said he approached Ventura and asked him to tone down his voice because the families of SEAL personnel were present, but that Ventura responded that the SEALs "deserved to lose a few guys." Kyle said he then punched Ventura.{{cite news|last1=Lamothe|first1=Dan|title=Jesse Ventura vs. Chris Kyle: A case where no one won|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/07/30/jesse-ventura-vs-chris-kyle-a-case-where-no-one-won/|access-date=November 21, 2014|newspaper=Washington Post|date=July 30, 2014|archive-date=November 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129142450/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/07/30/jesse-ventura-vs-chris-kyle-a-case-where-no-one-won/|url-status=live}}Associated Press, "[http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/08/ap-former-seal-book-lawsuit-ventura-082912/ Ex-SEAL's attorney: Ventura's claims deficient]", Military Times, August 29, 2012 Ventura denied the event occurred.

In January 2012, after Kyle declined to retract his statement, Ventura sued Kyle for defamation in federal court. In a motion filed by Kyle's attorney in August 2012 to dismiss two of the suit's three counts, declarations by five former SEALs and the mothers of two others supported Kyle's account.Browing, Dan, Star Tribune, "[http://www.stripes.com/news/us/ex-seal-jesse-ventura-got-popped-after-popping-off-1.187334 Ex-SEAL: Jesse Ventura got popped after popping off]", Stars and Stripes, August 29, 2012 But in a motion filed by Ventura, Bill DeWitt, a close friend of Ventura and former SEAL who was present with him at the bar, suggested that Ventura interacted with a few SEALs but was involved in no confrontation with Kyle and that Kyle's claims were false. DeWitt's wife also said she witnessed no fight between Kyle and Ventura.{{cite web|last=Hanners|first=David|title=Ventura says fellow author just after notoriety|url=http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_21592232/jesse-ventura-seal-didnt-deck-me|publisher=twincities.com|access-date=October 14, 2012|date=September 19, 2012|archive-date=October 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025232442/http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_21592232/jesse-ventura-seal-didnt-deck-me|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/us/jesse-ventura-chris-kyle-navy-seal-book-lawsuit.html |title=$1.8 Million for Ventura in Defamation Case |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 29, 2014 |first=Monica |last=Davey |access-date=February 9, 2017 |archive-date=December 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203024008/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/us/jesse-ventura-chris-kyle-navy-seal-book-lawsuit.html |url-status=live }}

In 2013, while the lawsuit was ongoing, Kyle was murdered in an unrelated incident, and Ventura substituted Taya Kyle, Chris Kyle's widow and the executor of his estate, as the defendant.{{cite web|last=Hopfensperger|first=Jean|title=Former MN Gov. Ventura wants to add widow to suit against Navy SEAL Chris Kyle|url=http://www.startribune.com/local/209539341.html|publisher=startribune.com|access-date=June 1, 2013|archive-date=June 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601231733/http://www.startribune.com/local/209539341.html|url-status=live}} After a three-week trial in federal court in St. Paul in July 2014, the jury reached an 8–2 divided verdict in Ventura's favor, and awarded him $1.85 million, $500,000 for defamation and $1,345,477.25 for unjust enrichment.{{cite news |url=http://www.nolapatent.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Order-Adopting-Verdict.pdf |title=Jury Verdict adopted by court |date=August 7, 2014 |access-date=August 23, 2015 |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730151018/http://www.nolapatent.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Order-Adopting-Verdict.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20140729-breaking-jury-awards-jesse-ventura-1.8-million-in-american-sniper-lawsuit.ece |title=Jury awards Jesse Ventura $1.8 million in 'American Sniper' lawsuit |newspaper=Dallas Morning News |date=July 29, 2014 |access-date=January 14, 2015 |archive-date=January 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123111228/http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20140729-breaking-jury-awards-jesse-ventura-1.8-million-in-american-sniper-lawsuit.ece |url-status=live }}{{cite news|title=Chris Kyle trial: Jesse Ventura wins $1.8 million in defamation case|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/lake-oswego/index.ssf/2014/07/chris_kyle_trial_jurors_warn_t.html|access-date=August 1, 2014|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Oregon Live|date=July 29, 2014|archive-date=August 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801035749/http://www.oregonlive.com/lake-oswego/index.ssf/2014/07/chris_kyle_trial_jurors_warn_t.html|url-status=live}} Ventura testified at the trial.{{cite news|url=http://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2014/07/11/ventura-testifies-american-sniper-lawsuit/12540345/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141120070243/http://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2014/07/11/ventura-testifies-american-sniper-lawsuit/12540345/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 20, 2014|title=Ventura testifies in 'American Sniper' lawsuit|work=KARE|date=July 15, 2014|access-date=November 20, 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/local/269697941.html|title=Aug. 3: Juror describes how jury reached split decision in Jesse Ventura defamation trial|work=Star Tribune|date=September 4, 2014|access-date=November 20, 2014|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730151116/https://www.startribune.com/aug-3-juror-describes-how-jury-reached-split-decision-in-jesse-ventura-defamation-trial/269697941/|url-status=live}} In August 2014, U.S. District Judge Richard H. Kyle (no relation to Chris Kyle) upheld the jury's award, finding it "reasonable and supported by a preponderance of the evidence." Attorneys for Kyle's estate said that the defamation damages would be covered by HarperCollins's libel insurance. The unjust enrichment award was not covered by insurance. After the verdict, HarperCollins announced that it would remove the sub-chapter "Punching out Scruff Face" from all future editions of Kyle's book.{{cite news |url=https://www.twincities.com/2014/08/07/federal-judge-rules-1-3-million-is-reasonable-in-jesse-ventura-defamation-suit/ |title=Jesse Ventura's $1.8M award in defamation trial ruled reasonable |work=St. Paul Pioneer Press |date=August 8, 2014 |access-date=August 8, 2014 |archive-date=January 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120165114/https://www.twincities.com/2014/08/07/federal-judge-rules-1-3-million-is-reasonable-in-jesse-ventura-defamation-suit/ |url-status=live }} Kyle's estate moved for either judgment as a matter of law or a new trial.{{cite news|url=https://www.twincities.com/2014/09/03/jesse-ventura-case-sniper-authors-widow-seeks-retrial/|title=Jesse Ventura case: 'Sniper' author's widow seeks retrial|work=St. Paul Pioneer Press|date=September 4, 2014|access-date=September 5, 2014|archive-date=March 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307135926/http://www.twincities.com/2014/09/03/jesse-ventura-case-sniper-authors-widow-seeks-retrial/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/minnesota/mndce/0:2012cv00472/124753|title=Ventura v. Kyle, Doc. 404|work=Justia Dockets & Filings|date=October 3, 2014|access-date=December 22, 2014|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730151023/https://dockets.justia.com/docket/minnesota/mndce/0:2012cv00472/124753|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thedeal.com/content/restructuring/a-snipers-widow-fights-for-his-legacy.php|title=A sniper's widow fights for his legacy|work=The Deal Pipeline|date=October 7, 2014|access-date=October 7, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009181858/http://www.thedeal.com/content/restructuring/a-snipers-widow-fights-for-his-legacy.php|archive-date=October 9, 2014}} In November 2014, the district court denied the motions.{{cite news|url=http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_27017245/no-new-trial-jesse-ventura-chris-kyle-defamation|title=No new trial in Jesse Ventura, Chris Kyle defamation lawsuit, judge rules|work=St. Paul Pioneer Press|date=November 26, 2014|access-date=November 26, 2014|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730142429/https://www.twincities.com/2014/11/25/no-new-trial-in-jesse-ventura-chris-kyle-defamation-lawsuit-judge-rules/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.kaaltv.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/VenturaVKyleOrder112614.pdf|title=Judge's Memo denying motions|date=November 26, 2014|access-date=December 6, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209133846/http://www.kaaltv.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/VenturaVKyleOrder112614.pdf|archive-date=December 9, 2014}}

Kyle's estate appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.{{cite news|url=http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/12/23/american-sniper-appeal|title='American Sniper' widow to appeal Ventura defamation verdict|date=December 23, 2014|access-date=December 25, 2014|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730151636/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/12/23/american-sniper-appeal|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca8/14-3876|title=Jesse Ventura v. Taya Kyle|date=December 23, 2014|access-date=December 25, 2014|archive-date=July 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730151527/https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca8/14-3876|url-status=live}} Oral argument was held in October 2015,{{cite news|url=http://www.fox9.com/news/36493761-story|title=Jesse Ventura: American Sniper appeal is 'superman' vs truth|date=October 20, 2015|access-date=November 12, 2015|archive-date=November 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117030449/http://www.fox9.com/news/36493761-story|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=http://www.ivoox.com/14-3876-jesse-ventura-vs-taya-kyle-audios-mp3_rf_9099704_1.html?autoplay=true |title=Oral Arguments 14-3876: Jesse Ventura vs Taya Kyle |date=October 20, 2015 |access-date=November 12, 2015 |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117031226/http://www.ivoox.com/14-3876-jesse-ventura-vs-taya-kyle-audios-mp3_rf_9099704_1.html?autoplay=true |url-status=live }} and on June 13, 2016, the appeals court vacated and reversed the unjust-enrichment judgment, and vacated and remanded the defamation judgment for a new trial, holding that "We cannot accept Ventura's unjust-enrichment theory, because it enjoys no legal support under Minnesota law. Ventura's unjust-enrichment claim fails as a matter of law."{{cite court

|litigants=Ventura v. Kyle

|opinion=14-3876

|pinpoint=20

|court=8th Cir.

|date=June 13, 2016

|url=http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/16/06/143876P.pdf

|access-date=November 28, 2016

|quote=We cannot accept Ventura's unjust-enrichment theory, because it enjoys no legal support under Minnesota law. Ventura's unjust-enrichment claim fails as a matter of law.

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624223015/http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/16/06/143876P.pdf

|url-status=live

}}{{cite news|last1=Forliti|first1=Amy|title=Court vacates $1.8M Ventura award in 'American Sniper' case|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/court-vacates-dollar18m-ventura-award-in-american-sniper-case/ar-AAgZiii?ocid=ansmsnent11|access-date=June 13, 2016|agency=AP|publisher=MSN|date=June 13, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616113139/http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/court-vacates-dollar18m-ventura-award-in-american-sniper-case/ar-AAgZiii?ocid=ansmsnent11|archive-date=June 16, 2016}} Ventura sought to appeal the circuit court's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court,{{Cite web| url=http://www.startribune.com/ventura-s-attorney-asks-supreme-court-to-hear-defamation-case/399574911/| title=Ventura's attorney asks U.S. Supreme Court to hear defamation case| website=Star Tribune| date=November 2, 2016| access-date=June 25, 2018| archive-date=June 25, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625185931/http://www.startribune.com/ventura-s-attorney-asks-supreme-court-to-hear-defamation-case/399574911/| url-status=live}} but in January 2017, the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal.{{Cite web|url = https://www.twincities.com/2017/01/09/jesse-ventura-loses-appeal-to-reinstate-1-8m-verdict-in-defamation-case/|title = Jesse Ventura loses appeal to reinstate $1.8M verdict in defamation case|date = January 9, 2017|access-date = June 25, 2018|archive-date = July 30, 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240730151637/https://www.twincities.com/2017/01/09/jesse-ventura-loses-appeal-to-reinstate-1-8m-verdict-in-defamation-case/|url-status = live}}

In December 2014, Ventura sued publisher HarperCollins over the same statement in American Sniper.{{cite news |last=Holley |first=Peter |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/12/16/jesse-ventura-sues-harpercollins-over-chris-kyles-american-sniper/ |title=Jesse Ventura sues HarperCollins over Chris Kyle's 'American Sniper' |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 16, 2014 |access-date=January 14, 2015 |archive-date=January 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108011834/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/12/16/jesse-ventura-sues-harpercollins-over-chris-kyles-american-sniper/ |url-status=live }} In December 2017, Ventura and HarperCollins settled the dispute on undisclosed terms, and Ventura dropped his lawsuit against both the publisher and Kyle's estate.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/5/jesse-ventura-settles-american-sniper-lawsuit-take |title=Jesse Ventura settles 'American Sniper' lawsuit |date=December 4, 2017 |access-date=December 29, 2018 |archive-date=December 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230081116/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/5/jesse-ventura-settles-american-sniper-lawsuit-take/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/06/26/a-fox-news-host-ambushed-jesse-ventura-about-his-american-sniper-lawsuit-it-got-ugly/|newspaper=Washington Post|title=A Fox News host ambushed Jesse Ventura about his 'American Sniper' lawsuit. It got ugly.|date=June 26, 2017|author=Cleve R. Wootson Jr.|access-date=March 28, 2021|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101071559/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/06/26/a-fox-news-host-ambushed-jesse-ventura-about-his-american-sniper-lawsuit-it-got-ugly/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.startribune.com/jesse-ventura-appears-to-have-settled-long-running-defamation-law-suit/461382013/|newspaper=Star Tribune|title=Jesse Ventura appears to have settled his long-running lawsuit|date=December 1, 2017|access-date=March 28, 2021|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505043623/https://www.startribune.com/jesse-ventura-appears-to-have-settled-long-running-defamation-law-suit/461382013/|url-status=live}}

On July 18, 1975, three days after his 24th birthday, Ventura married his wife, Terry. The couple have two children: a son, Tyrel,[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20137480,00.html "Last CallFor Gov. Jesse Ventura – and His Fun-Loving Son Tyrel – the Party Is Over"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322143526/http://people.com/archive/last-call-vol-58-no-2/ |date=March 22, 2018 }}. People. Vol. 58 No. July 2, 8, 2002 who is a film and television director and producer,Justin, Neal. [http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/blogs/130138483.html "Jesse Ventura hires a familiar face"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130071444/http://www.startribune.com/jesse-ventura-hires-a-familiar-face/130138483/ |date=November 30, 2018 }}. Star Tribune. September 19, 2011 and a daughter, Jade. With the exception of the first two WrestleManias, Ventura always said hello to "Terry, Tyrel and Jade back in Minneapolis" during his commentary at the annual event. Tyrel also had the honor of inducting his father into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004, and worked on Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, including as an investigator in the show's third season.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Ventura and his wife split their time between White Bear Lake, Minnesota, and Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico.[http://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/bios.html "Meet the Team"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118210020/https://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/bios.html |date=November 18, 2018 }}. Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. TruTV. Retrieved December 21, 2011. Regarding his life in Mexico, Ventura has said: {{cquote|I live one hour from pavement and one hour from electricity. I drive down and back every year and it's truly an adventure to live down there where I do, because I'm off the grid. I have electricity, but it's all solar. I'm completely solar-powered down there. And it makes you pay more attention. It makes you turn the lights off when you're not using them.[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/01/lkl.01.html "Jesse Ventura Calls for Revolution of Political Parties"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308184554/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/01/lkl.01.html |date=March 8, 2020 }}. Transcript of Larry King Live. April 1, 2008. CNN. Retrieved December 21, 2011.}}

During his wrestling days, Ventura used anabolic steroids. He admitted this after retiring from competition, and went on to make public service announcements and appear in printed ads and on posters warning young people about the potential dangers and potential health risks of abusing steroids.{{cite web |url=https://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WhatWeDo/History/ThisWeek/ucm117728.htm |title=This Week in FDA History |publisher=Fda.gov |access-date=July 6, 2009 |archive-date=January 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126082016/https://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WhatWeDo/History/ThisWeek/ucm117728.htm |url-status=live }}

In 2002, Ventura was hospitalized for a severe blood clot in his lungs, the same kind of injury that ended his wrestling career.{{cite news |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/07/09/ventura/index.html |title=Ventura hospitalized with blood clot in lung |date=July 9, 2002 |access-date=October 20, 2008 |work=CNN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207070454/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/07/09/ventura/index.html |archive-date=December 7, 2008 }}

In 1999, Ventura said during an NBC News interview that he was baptized a Lutheran; later, he said on The Joe Rogan Experience that he was an atheist.{{cite web|last=Karr|first=Christopher|title=Jesse Ventura on Politics, Keith Richards, and Why He's an Atheist|url=http://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1254-jesse-ventura-politics-keith-richards-and-why-hes-atheist|work=Highbrow Magazine|date=June 21, 2012|access-date=December 13, 2012|archive-date=June 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618054009/http://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1254-jesse-ventura-politics-keith-richards-and-why-hes-atheist|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=The Religious Affiliation of Jesse Ventura Professional Wrestler and Governor of Minnesota|url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pv/Jesse_Ventura.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050609075829/http://www.adherents.com/people/pv/Jesse_Ventura.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=June 9, 2005|access-date=March 22, 2012}} In a Playboy interview, Ventura said, "Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business. I live by the golden rule: Treat others as you'd want them to treat you. The religious right wants to tell people how to live."[https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/01/us/ventura-says-religion-is-for-weak.html Ventura Says Religion Is For Weak] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521155600/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/01/us/ventura-says-religion-is-for-weak.html |date=May 21, 2018 }} New York Times. October 1, 1999. Retrieved February 5, 2015. In his 1999 bestselling memoir I Ain't Got Time to Bleed, Ventura responded to the controversy sparked by these remarks by elaborating on his views on religion:

{{blockquote|I'd like to clarify my comments published in Playboy about religious people being weak-minded. I didn't mean all religious people. I don't have any problem with the vast majority of religious folks. I count myself among them, more or less. But I believe because it makes sense to me, not because I think it can be proven. There are lots of people out there who think they know the truth about God and religion, but does anybody really know for sure? That's why the Founding Fathers built freedom of religious belief into the structure of this nation, so that everybody could make up their minds for themselves. But I do have a problem with the people who think they have some right to try to impose their beliefs on others. I hate what the fundamentalist fanatics are doing to our country. It seems as though, if everybody doesn't accept their version of reality, that somehow invalidates it for them. Everybody must believe the same things they do. That's what I find weak and destructive.}}

In April 2011, Ventura said on The Howard Stern Show that he is an atheist and that his beliefs could disqualify him for office in the future: "I don't believe you can be an atheist and admit it and get elected in our country."{{Cite episode |series=Howard Stern Show|title=The Howard Stern Show |network=Sirius XM Radio |air-date=April 5, 2011 |minutes=143 |quote=Actually Howard, I can't even run for office anymore. [...] Like George [Takei] I've come out of the closet. ... I'm an atheist. ... I don't believe you can be an atheist and admit it and get elected in our country.}} In an October 2010 CNN interview, Ventura called religion the "root of all evil", adding, "you notice every war is fought over religion."{{cite news |url=http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1010/15/cnr.08.html |title=Transcripts |publisher=CNN |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=February 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228223757/http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1010/15/cnr.08.html |url-status=live }}

As governor, Ventura endorsed equal rights for religious minorities, as well as people who do not believe in God, by declaring July 4, 2002, "Indivisible Day". He inadvertently proclaimed October 13–19, 2002, "Christian Heritage Week" in Minnesota.{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E7DF1F3BF931A3575BC0A9649C8B63 |title=National Briefing | Midwest: Minnesota: Christians One Up On Ventura |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Napolitano, Jo |date=August 2, 2002 |access-date=October 20, 2008 |archive-date=April 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402191948/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/02/us/national-briefing-midwest-minnesota-christians-one-up-on-ventura.html |url-status=live }}

• American Wrestling Association
• AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Adrian Adonis{{Cite web|url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/ttawa.html|title=Solie's Title Histories: AWA – American Wrestling Association|website=www.solie.org|access-date=December 23, 2019|archive-date=September 1, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901005006/http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/ttawa.html|url-status=live}}
• Cauliflower Alley Club
• Iron Mike Mazurki Award (1999)
• Central States Wrestling
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version) (1 time) – with Tank Patton{{cite web |url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/csttnwa.html |title=NWA World Tag Team Championship (Central States version) history |publisher=Solie.org |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022121839/http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/csttnwa.html |url-status=live }}
• Continental Wrestling Association
• AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (2 times){{cite web |url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-h.html |title=AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship history |publisher=Wrestling-titles.com |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=April 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405083449/http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-h.html |url-status=live }}
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
• Frank Gotch Award (2003)
• NWA Hawaii
• NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Steve Strong{{cite web |url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/hi/hi-t.html |title=NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship history |publisher=Wrestling-titles.com |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=May 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523172149/http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/hi/hi-t.html |url-status=live }}
• Pacific Northwest Wrestling
• NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (2 times){{cite web |url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/pnwhtnwa.html |title=NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship history |publisher=Solie.org |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022121726/http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/pnwhtnwa.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://www.f4wonline.com/other-wrestling/daily-pro-wrestling-history-0117-vader-wins-iwgp-heavyweight-title-301956 | title=Pro wrestling history (01/17): Vader wins IWGP heavyweight title | date=January 17, 2019 | access-date=January 18, 2019 | work=Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online | first=Brian | last=Hoops | archive-date=April 15, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415054820/https://www.f4wonline.com/other-wrestling/daily-pro-wrestling-history-0117-vader-wins-iwgp-heavyweight-title-301956 | url-status=live }}
• NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Bull Ramos (2), Buddy Rose (2) and Jerry Oates (1){{Cite web|url=http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/pnwttnwa.html|title=Solie's Title Histories: NWA – National Wrestling Alliance|website=www.solie.org|access-date=December 23, 2019|archive-date=October 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022121321/http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/pnwttnwa.html|url-status=live}}
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
• Ranked No. 239 of the top 500 singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003{{cite web|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi500yr.htm |access-date=September 6, 2010 |title=Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 – PWI Years |publisher=Wrestling Information Archive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515112842/http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi500yr.htm |archive-date=May 15, 2011 }}
• Ranked No. 67 of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Adrian Adonis{{cite web|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi100tg.htm |access-date=March 10, 2009 |title=Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 100 Tag Teams of the PWI Years |publisher=Wrestling Information Archive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325080845/http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi100tg.htm |archive-date=March 25, 2009 }}
• Ring Around The Northwest Newsletter
• Wrestler of the Year (1976){{cite web |url=http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/pnw/pnw16.htm |title=Regional Territories: PNW #16 |author=Rodgers, Mike |date=2004 |website=KayfabeMemories.com |access-date=July 18, 2017 |archive-date=November 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116061717/http://kayfabememories.com/Regions/pnw/pnw16.htm |url-status=live }}
• World Wrestling Entertainment
• WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards
• Best Color Commentator (1987–1990){{Cite journal|title = Jan. 19, 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 18th Annual Newsletter Awards Issue|last = Meltzer|first = Dave|date = January 19, 1998|journal = Wrestling Observer Newsletter}}

{{Election box begin | title=1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Reform Party (Minnesota)

|candidate = Jesse Ventura

|votes = 773,713

|percentage = 37.0

|change = n/a

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party of Minnesota

|candidate = Norm Coleman

|votes = 717,350

|percentage = 34.3

|change = -29.0

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party

|candidate = Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III

|votes = 587,528

|percentage = 28.1

|change = -6.0

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Green Party (United States)

|candidate = Ken Pentel

|votes = 7,034

|percentage = 0.3

|change = n/a

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party =

|candidate = Others

|votes = 5,365

|percentage = 0.3

|change = n/a

}}

{{Election box candidate|

|party =

|candidate = Write-ins

|votes = 776

|percentage =

|change = n/a

}}

{{Election box majority|

|votes = 56,363

|percentage = 2.7

|change =

}}

{{Election box turnout|

|votes = 2,091,766

|percentage = 60.0

|change =

}}

{{Election box gain with party link|

|winner = Reform Party (Minnesota)

|loser = Republican Party (United States)

|swing =

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin |title=2020 United States presidential election in Alaska{{cite web |title=General Election Results Summary |url=https://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/20GENR/data/sovc/ElectionSummaryReportRPT24.pdf |website=Alaska Division of Elections |access-date=November 30, 2020 |archive-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201011122/https://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/20GENR/data/sovc/ElectionSummaryReportRPT24.pdf |url-status=live }}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|party=Republican Party (United States)|candidate=Donald Trump
Mike Pence|votes=189,951|percentage=52.8|change=+1.6}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Democratic Party (United States)|candidate=Joe Biden
Kamala Harris|votes=153,778|percentage=42.8|change=+6.2}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Libertarian Party (United States)|candidate=Jo Jorgensen
Spike Cohen|votes=8,897|percentage=2.5|change=−3.4}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Green Party of Alaska|candidate=Jesse Ventura
Cynthia McKinney|votes=2,673|percentage=0.7|change=−1.1}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Constitution Party (United States)|candidate=Don Blankenship
William Mohr|votes=1,127|percentage=0.3|change=−0.9}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Independent (politician)|candidate=Brock Pierce
Karla Ballard|votes=825|percentage=0.2|change=N/A}}{{Election box candidate with party link|party=Alliance Party (United States)|candidate=Rocky De La Fuente
Darcy Richardson|votes=318|percentage=0.1|change=N/A}}

{{Election box write-in with party link

| votes =1,961

| percentage =0.6

| change =N/A

}}

{{Election box total

| votes =359,530

| percentage =100

| change =+6.7

}}

{{Election box hold with party link|

|winner = Republican Party (United States)

|loser = Democratic Party (United States)

|swing =

}}

{{Election box end}}

• I Ain't Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up (1999) {{ISBN|978-0-375-50332-0}}
• Do I Stand Alone? Going to the Mat Against Political Pawns and Media Jackals (2000) {{ISBN|978-0-7434-0586-7}}
• Jesse Ventura Tells it Like it Is: America's Most Outspoken Governor Speaks Out About Government (August 1, 2002, co-authored with Heron Marquez) {{ISBN|978-0-8225-0385-9}}
• Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! (2008, co-authored with Dick Russell) {{ISBN|978-1-60239-273-1}}
• American Conspiracies: Lies, Lies, and More Dirty Lies That the Government Tells Us (2010, co-authored with Dick Russell) {{ISBN|978-1-60239-802-3}}. Updated and revised edition (2015, co-authored with Dick Russell) {{ISBN|978-1-6345-0545-1}}
• 63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read (2011, co-authored with Dick Russell) {{ISBN|978-1-61608-226-0}}
• DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans: No More Gangs in Government (2012, co-authored with Dick Russell) {{ISBN|978-1-6160-8448-6}}
• They Killed Our President: 63 Reasons to Believe There Was a Conspiracy to Assassinate JFK (2013, with Dick Russell & David Wayne) {{ISBN|978-1-6263-6139-3}}
• Sh*t Politicians Say: The Funniest, Dumbest, Most Outrageous Things Ever Uttered By Our "Leaders" (2016) {{ISBN|978-1-5107-1417-5}}
• Marijuana Manifesto (2016) {{ISBN|978-1-5107-1424-3}}

{{Portal|Biography|United States|Politics}}

• List of American politicians who switched parties in office

{{clear}}

{{Reflist}}

• deFiebre, Conrad. "Record-high job approval for Ventura; Many Minnesotans like his style, don't mind moonlighting". Star Tribune July 22, 1999: 1A+.
• deFiebre, Conrad. "Using body language, Ventura backs Kerry". Star Tribune October 23, 2004: 1A+.
• Kahn, Joseph P. "[https://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/02/25/the_body_politic/ The Body Politic]". The Boston Globe February 25, 2004. Accessed April 28, 2004.
• Olson, Rochelle and Bob von Sternberg. "GOP demands equal time; Wellstone aide apologizes; Ventura upset". Minneapolis Star-Tribune October 31, 2002: 1A+.

{{Commons}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{IMDb name}}
• {{WWE superstar}}
• {{Professional wrestling profiles}}
• {{C-SPAN|57375}}
• [http://collections.mnhs.org/governors/10004131 Minnesota Historical Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125115449/http://collections.mnhs.org/governors/10004131 |date=November 25, 2020 }}
• [https://www.ontheissues.org/Jesse_Ventura.htm Issue positions and quotes] at On the Issues
• [https://www.politifact.com/personalities/jesse-ventura/ Fact-checking] at PolitiFact.com
• {{twitter|GovJVentura}}
• [http://www.ora.tv/offthegrid Off The Grid with Jesse Ventura] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109195045/http://www.ora.tv/offthegrid |date=January 9, 2014 }}
• [https://jesseventura.substack.com/ Jesse Ventura] at Substack

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{{Governors of Minnesota}}

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