STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Two political candidates who share names with popular movie stars won last week’s primaries.
One is Sandra Bullock and the other is Viola Davis. Both advanced to the November election, however, one of them now says she is pulling out.
Viola Davis is going to the Georgia legislature, the winner of last week’s Democratic primary. She has no opposition in November.
"I have been Viola Davis longer than the actress," Davis told 11Alive's Doug Richards.
The actress Viola Davis is an Oscar winner, not a politician. But when voters in Georgia House District 87 saw Viola Davis’s name on the ballot, they sent the DeKalb County activist to the House of Representatives.
"I would like to think that it’s my work that ended up getting me elected rather than my name," Davis said.
Davis said she has run for county commissioner and a seat in the legislature previously. She lost those races, before the ascent of her actress namesake.
"I am very happy if that helped out," she laughed.
Viola Davis is one of two Georgia legislature candidates who succeeded in last week’s primary at least in part because of a bit of extra name recognition.
The other, however, is having second thoughts. Her name is Sandra Bullock.
Sandra Bullock is a Georgia Tech retiree who tiptoed into politics for the first time this year and won. The actress Sandra Bullock is also an Oscar winner, not a politician. But when voters saw Sandra Bullock’s name on the ballot, the political novice won the Democratic primary in House District 40, which is rooted in Cobb County.
But in a conversation on her front porch, Sandra Bullock told 11Alive she intends to withdraw from the race due to unspecified health issues.
The man she beat in the primary, Erick Allen, is her likely replacement on the Democratic ballot in November. Allen has run for the seat previously.
The Republican will be Matt Bentley as Incumbent Rich Golick is retiring from the legislature.
