Shawn O'Hara

Shawn O'Hara is a perennial candidate for public office in Mississippi. He was the national chairman of the Reform Party of the United States, and a frequent candidate on their ticket. He has since become a member of the Democratic Party.

He is probably best known for his frequently running for mayor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He has sought the office in 2005 and 2009.

O'Hara ran as the Reform Party candidate for United States Senate in Mississippi in 2000. He received 0.7% of the vote.

While a member of the Reform Party, O'Hara supported the candidacy of George W. Bush. After his party nominated Ralph Nader as presidential candidate in 2004, O'Hara said he hoped Nader could spoil the election: "I’m doing everything I can to make sure John Kerry never gets around the White House." This sentiment, and the fact that O'Hara was a supporter of the Ku Klux Klan's Samuel Bowers, and his statements that he had once favored the execution of abortion doctors, put O'Hara odds with other Reform Party members.

In 2003 he was the Reform Party candidate for Governor of Mississippi and received 4,070 votes for 0.46% of the vote.

In 2007 O'Hara ran as a Democrat for state treasurer and received 284,789 votes (39.47%).

O'Hara sought the Democratic Party nomination for the United States Senate in 2008, however, he was defeated in the primary by Erik R. Fleming 65.8% - 34.2%.

The Majority in Mississippi blog predicts he will run in 2010 or 2011, saying: "[O'Hara is a] perennial candidate will try to run for something- if not everything- in 2011. He tried qualifying for every statewide race in 2007 as a Democrat but they decided to let him be the sacrificial lamb who would face Tate Reeves...."

O'Hara is running for the seat in Mississippi's 3rd congressional district as a Democrat.