#BlueStarByte: Dark Horse Candidate

A “dark horse candidate” in the United States refers to a political candidate who is relatively unknown or not initially expected to win, but who unexpectedly gains support and becomes competitive — or even wins. The term comes from horse racing, where a “dark horse” was a horse whose abilities were unknown because little was known about it before the race.

In U.S. politics, the expression became especially associated with presidential elections. One of the earliest and most famous examples was James K. Polk in 1844. Polk was not considered a leading contender for the Democratic nomination, but he unexpectedly emerged as the compromise nominee and ultimately won the presidency.

Other examples often described as “dark horse” candidates include Jimmy Carter in 1976 (relatively unknown nationally before his presidential campaign) and Barack Obama in the early stages of the 2008 race, before becoming the frontrunner.