The Story Behind B&B Star Kimberlin Brown's Run For Congress

As Sheila Carter on "The Bold and the Beautiful," Kimberlin Brown plays a very controversial character. That's because Sheila has committed a lot of crimes but has faced few consequences for what she's done. Sheila has had a rein of terror like no one has seen before. But Brown says playing a villain like Sheila Carter has been fabulous, to say the least. She told Soap Opera Digest in 2022, "Being awarded the part of Sheila Carter has really opened an entire new world to me as Kimberlin Brown. It has given me the opportunity to travel and do things that I may not have ever had the opportunity to do and I am forever grateful."

Being a household name in the daytime television world has also given Brown an opportunity to try different things in her personal life, too. Not many of her "The Bold and the Beautiful" fans know that Brown had political ambitions not too long ago and ran for office in her local hometown of Palm Springs, California. She also ran the kind of congressional race that would make even Sheila raise an eyebrow in her direction.

Sheila Carter for president? Well, maybe not. But her portrayer, "The Bold and the Beautiful" actor Kimberlin Brown, did get her name on the ballot back in 2018. That's because she ran for California's 36th congressional district as a member of the Republican party. Even though Brown didn't have any previous political experience, nor had she ever run for a public office before, the daytime television star still wanted to make a difference in her community and state. She challenged her opponent, Democrat Raul Ruiz, on the state's gas and tax hike that year. According to the Desert Sun, Brown argued, "They say they're for the middle class, and yet who does this tax affect the most? The middle class. The top one percent — they can afford that tax hike."

Brown even defended her support for presidential candidate Donald Trump at the time, telling CNN that she stood by him, despite the backlash she was receiving. Trump must have liked what he saw in the soap star because Brown even received a prime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in 2016, per Fortune.

Unfortunately for Kimberlin Brown, her congressional run did end like she wanted. She lost to Democrat Raul Ruiz by quite the margin, as he came in on top with 59% of the vote, while Brown received only 40%, according to Soaps.com. That was the one and only time Brown decided to dip her toes into the political waters. But Brown did address her supporters after her defeat, saying, "I have been making efforts to contact Raul Ruiz since 7am. I want to congratulate him on his victory last night. I can only hope that he moves forward by representing all the voices of our wonderful district."

Brown admitted in 2019 that being a conservative in the entertainment industry is tough. She told Fox & Friends First (via Yahoo), "To be a conservative actress in California, it's a tough place. I'm very lucky because I have other businesses to rely on, but there are actors that truly are conservative out there that are afraid to come forward."

Whether or not Brown will run for office again, she hasn't said. But the soap star knows it won't be easy. She explained, "[Conservative actors] are really afraid. I have several conservative friends that you would know who are afraid to come forward because they are the sole providers for their families." Someone like Sheila Carter — who isn't afraid of anything — would probably scoff at that.