Culture
10 Nov 22

Musicians and celebrities speak out to endorse candidates for US Midterm Elections

Credit: Lillie Eiger

Harry Styles, Selena Gomez and Kacey Musgraves all supported Beto O'Rourke.

As the US Midterm Elections approached, many musicians and celebrities took to social media to urge fans to vote or endorse specific candidates.

Governor of Texas candidate Beto O'Rourke received overwhelming support from a myriad of celebrities- to no avail, as he was defeated for the third time in four years. He was praised by Selena Gomez, who wrote on an Instagram story, "I had the pleasure of meeting @betoorourke a few years ago and was so impressed by him. For those of you in my home state of Texas, please vote for him!"

Selena Gomez encourages her home state of Texas to vote for @BetoORourke. pic.twitter.com/LBJJjMgM6D

— Selena Gomez News (@SGomezNewsCOMs) November 7, 2022

Harry Styles played an Austin stadium with a 'Beto For Texas' sticker on his guitar, which he pointed to as the big screen zoomed in on it. O'Rourke was in the crowd, and later said he was "so grateful" to Styles for the endorsement.

Harry Styles and @BetoORourke 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/EjKLIpUUtT

— THE PETE EFFECT (@ThePeteEffect) November 6, 2022

Yet another musician that endorsed O'Rourke on stage was country singer Kacey Musgraves, who had the politician bring her a beer while she played at the ACL Music Festival in Austin.

.@BetoORourke brings @KaceyMusgraves a beer during @aclfestival set! #aclfest pic.twitter.com/ctaxpfzgxd

— Ricky (@RickyG_TV) October 17, 2022

Meanwhile, producer and singer Pharrell Williams shared his endorsement for Virginia Beach City Council candidate Jennifer Rouse, writing "y'all see who I'm standing with, now go cast your votes." This race has yet to be called.

Y’all see who I’m standing with, now go cast your votes.@jenniferrousevb for District 10. B.S in English M.S in Sociology and an Educator at TCC. 📈📈📈#changeisgood https://t.co/AGNyL292Aj

— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) November 8, 2022

Bette Middler took to Twitter to share the general advice to vote blue. "Vote in numbers too big to manipulate," the image reads.

pic.twitter.com/98q0aPErRp

— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) November 8, 2022

Katy Perry dedicated an Instagram post to sharing her votes. The 38 year old endorsed Rick J. Caruso and voted 'Yes' on Measure 28, which provides funding for arts and music education in public schools. She has received some backlash from fans for not voting for the more progressive Democrat Karen Bass. Currently, the billionaire anti-abortion candidate Caruso is in the lead. Celebrities that voted for Bass include John Legend, Aloe Blacc, and Natalie Portman.