The race for the 2016 elections are on! With dozens of candidates having already announced their candidacy over a year and a half before the U.S. presidential election, the racetrack has grown, and continues to grow, increasingly competitive.
While a race in politics is not to be taken as a literal test of physical prowess, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t. One of the most pivotal issues in American politics right now is healthcare and with obesity and chronic illness on the rise, HFR found it necessary to break down the presidential candidates in terms of their political issues regarding health and fitness as well as their personal health to determine the fittest Republicans running for office.
“The president’s job is a very stressful one that requires him or her to be on duty 24/7. The stress that they are exposed to can affect their health so drastically that if they don’t maintain a healthy lifestyle, they can be subjected to any number of chronic illnesses – both physical and mental,” said HFR Founder and renowned fitness expert Samir Becic.
“Our future president will have much more competition than the previous presidents because of where the modern world is heading – and against other leaders whose views differ, such as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.” – Samir Becic
HFR included information on the candidates revolving their political party, supporting issues, community involvement and personal health. Is your vote supporting the health and fitness revolution? Find out below!
Disclaimer: HFR is not associated with any political party nor any one individual candidate. Click to see the Democrat candidates.
Jeb Bush
- Political party: Republican
- Supporting issues
- Opposes Obamacare
- Opposes green energy and clean air and water
- Community involvement
- Hosted the annual AT&T Bush Florida Classic which includes golfing, fishing, and beach bash
- Expanded KidsCare and MediKids
- Personal health
- Plays golf every Sunday
- Adopted the Paleo Diet, a diet that emphasizes heavy consumption of meat, fruits, and certain vegetables while avoiding grains, dairy, and foods high in sugar and other processed carbohydrates.
- Lost weight due to the Paleo diet
Ben Carson
- Political party: Republican
- Supporting issues
- Promoter of Health Savings Accounts instead of ACA
- Community involvement
- First surgeon to successfully to separate twins who were conjoined at the head
- 2010, elected into the National Academy of SCiences Institute of Medicine – one of the highest honors in the health and medicine field
- 1994, established the Carson Scholars Fund to provide scholarships to students who show academic excellence and perform community service
- Personal health
- Promotes academic intelligence more than athletic ability
- Constantly are crops from local farms while growing up
Chris Christie
- Political party: Republican
- New Jersey governor
- Supporting issues
- Favors green energy
- Favors expansion of Obamacare and increased funding to the National Institute of Health
- Community involvement
- Coaches Little League baseball
- Enjoys watching professional sports, including cheering for the New York Mets, New York Knicks, New York Rangers and the Dallas Cowboys
- Personal health
- Had lap band surgery in 2013 and has dropped 85 pounds.
- Weighed about 350 pounds before surgery
- Says he is not a vegetable fan and only eats “green beans, lettuce, and cucumbers.”
- Usually doesn’t eat breakfast or drink coffee. He instead has a mug full of milk in the morning.
- His surgery has controversial in the media but he openly talks about it “because I don’t want people to feel self conscious about whatever challenges they have.”
- Told CNN that he now sleeps a lot better and hadn’t realized how poorly he slept before weight loss
- The Romney campaign had concerns about his health and weight
while vetting him for the vice president spot
Carly Fiorina
- Political party: Republican
- Supporting issues
- Supports local control of education; wants federal government out of education
- Opposes any kind of federal healthcare
overreach, including Obamacare - Against clean air and water; wants to weaken the EPA
- Community Involvement
- Board member for Revolution Health Group, a US- based corporation dedicated to giving the people the tools they need to monitor their health and fitness
- Chairwoman for non profit organization Good360, a charity that donates excess merchandise to charities
- Traveled to Iowa to support Sen. Ernst’s biking and barbecue event
- Personal health
- Breast cancer survivor
Lindsey Graham
- Political party: Republican
- Sen. of South Carolina
- Supporting Issues
- Co-sponsored the Healthy Americans Act
- Serves on the Committee of Appropriations, which includes 6 subcommittees, one of which is the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
- Community Involvement
- Served in the U.S. Air Force for 33 years, including active duty, Air National Guard, USAF Reserve
- Personal life
- Attempting to stay on a low-carb diet “while facing the exercise deficient life on the campaign trail.”
Mike Huckabee
- Political party: Republican
- served as governor of Arkansas, ran for president in 2008
- Supporting issues
- Started the Health Arkansas initiative to encourage health and fitness.
- Supported this movement by encouraging his own staff to where pedometers, enabling them to compete against one another over who would walk the most steps in a month
- Started the Health Arkansas initiative to encourage health and fitness.
- Community involvement
- Huckabee became a fundraiser Victory College in Memphis, Tennessee; became chancellor of the Victory University Foundation
- Received two honorary doctoral degrees
- Chairman of two political action committees: Â Vertical Politics Institute and Huck PAC
- Personal health
- Ran the Little Rock marathon in 4 hours and 38 mins. and defeated Gov. Tom Vilsack (Iowa) by 50 minutes.
- Lost 40 lbs. in 3 months after attending the University of Arkansas Medical Science Center’s weight control program. The program consisted of consuming meal replacement shakes and eating healthy foods.
- Ran several marathons, including the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon, the 2005 and 2006 Little Rock Marathon and the 2006 New York City Marathon.
- Recipient of the AARP Impact Award in 2006, which recognized Huckabee as a “health crusader.”
- Wrote a book on weight loss and nutrition called “Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork”
- Enjoys fishing and was the American Sportfishing Association’s Man of the Year for 1997
- Lost 110 lbs. (coming from 300 lbs. ) after being diagnosed with diabetes
- Weight loss inspired him to focus more attention to health care reform during his governorship
- Declared himself a “recovering foodaholic.”
Bobby Jindal
- Political party: Republican
- Supporting issues
- On education, is against Common Core but supports maintaining standards
- Opposes Obamacare, but supports universal access to healthcare
- Supports family values, which he says reduces poverty
- Community involvement
- State health secretary at age 24, house member at 33, governor at 36, and now at 43 is the youngest Presidential candidate
- Got the job as health secretary after reading a Washington Post article about how Louisiana’s health system was going bankrupt.  He wrote a letter to the state telling them how to fix it and was hired
- State health secretary at age 24, house member at 33, governor at 36, and now at 43 is the youngest Presidential candidate
- Personal health
- Unlike the other candidates, his focus is gaining weight
- Looking to “beef up” and gained 13 pounds in October 2014
- Claims that he forgets to eat sometimes because he is so busy
- Also says he has a high metabolism which makes it hard to gain weight
- Works out everyday! Starts his day early with cardio and light weights
- Rotates muscle group focus each day
- Cardio machine of choice is the stationary bike because its easy on the knees and allows him to spend the morning reading the newspaper
- Says he works out to maintain health and because it gives him more energy to face the day
George Pataki
- Political party: Republican
- Governor of New York 1995- 2006
- Supporting issues
- Supports expansion and funding of charter schools
- Wants to tackle climate change and reduce pollution
- Wants to repeal Obamacare
- Community involvement
- Served as volunteer fire chief
- Major supporter of improving children’s education
- Head of a charter school movement in New York
- Personal life
- Met his wife Libby while body surfing during a hurricane
- Libby was a tireless advocate for women’s and children’s health issues such as breast cancer awareness and smoking prevention
- Son Ted Pataki served as a Marine office in Iraq and works for the Knights of Columbus
Rand Paul
- Political party: Republican
- Supporting issues
- Supports Free-Market Principles in Health Care
and the Repeal of Obamacare - Supports our Second Amendment Rights to bear arms
- Supports Free-Market Principles in Health Care
- Community involvement
- Is a volunteer for the sports his kids participate in.
- “As a doctor, I have had firsthand experience with the immense problems facing healthcare
in the United States”
- Personal health
- Participated in high school sports
- On the congressional baseball team
Rick Perry
- Political party: Republican
- Supporting issues
- Opposed federal health care reform
- Community involvement
- Was a Captain in the United States Air Force
- During Perry’s time as Texas Governor, the state moved from the #2 state with the most uninsured population, to the first
- Personal health
- Attended Texas A&M and was a member of the Corps of Cadet, and was also a Yell Leader (cheerleader)
- Use to be an avid jogger but because of back pain
he has changed to a stationary bike - Says he does a 4 mile jog or 30 minutes
on bike with weight
training - Eagle Scout
- He has ran in countless fun runs and marathon across the state of Texas during his tenure as Governor
- He claims that when he does not exercise regularly he develops sleep apnea, but with his healthy lifestyle he avoids this problem.
Marco Rubio
- Political party: Republican
- Supporting issues
- Advocates for the expansion of mental health facilities, universal childhood vaccinations- with the exception of those with medical issues
- Proposes to defund the federal health care
system and replace it with a market service - Supporter of Medicare
hospice program, which helped his father die with dignity - Recently sponsored a bill to improve the quality of Florida fisheries to promote
sustainable conservation and management in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic
- Community involvement
- Supporter of the Boy Scouts, responded to a scout’s letter on Youtube in his weekly edition of Marco’s Constituent Mailbox
- Personal health
- Played football in high school and college – got a scholarship but was injured in his freshman year
- Played on the congressional flag football team
- Wife and sister-in-law were professional cheerleaders for the Miami Dolphins
- Established the West Miami bicycle patrol officers
Rick Santorum
- Political party: Republican
- Supporting issues
- He supports reforms for Medicare to make it sustainable.
- Community Involvement
- CEO of EchoLight Studios, a film company that produces films based on religion and faith
- Personal health
- Hunts
- Bowls regularly
- Starts the day with 50 pushups
- However, he has horrible eating habits and especially likes ice cream (chickfila hand spun shakes). Says he is “hooked”.
- Has held town meetings in ice cream parlors
- His 20 year old daughter took time off of college to campaign with her dad and keep him on track with healthy eating.
- She says without her his diet, “devolves into McDonald’s and milkshakes and unhealthiness.”
Donald Trump
- Political Party: Republican
- Entrepreneur
- Supporting Issues
- Supports universal healthcare, but against Obamacare
- Supports private schools and school choice
- Community Involvement
- Founded the Eric Trump Foundation, which dedicated to raising money for children battling life-threatening diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. To date, they have raised and pledged $30 million
- Supports GirlUp, a United Nations charity that seeks to educate and empower teen girls in third-world countries
- Supports The New York City Police Foundation to encourage excellence in NYPD by promoting public safety and improving training
- Supports the Police Athletic League, a nonprofit organization based in New York City that offers daycare and aftercare to youth ages 3-19. The organization offers truancy prevention programs, city-wide sports, youth employment, and youth adventure programs.
- Personal life
- Has written a book called “Think Big & Kick Ass,” which includes a wide variety of life types, many of which can be applied in the gym, such as being passionate, being positive and thinking big.
- Played several sports while growing up and captained several teams
- Active golfer and enjoys going on walks
- Says golfing keeps him in shape, as after playing several rounds of golf, Trump claims to notice a change in weight
- Avoids all drugs, including alcohol and marijuana, and has avoided them his whole life.
- His brother’s death was a wake up call for Trump. His brother was an alcoholic.
Scott Walker
- Political party: Republican
- Supporting issues
- Supports charter schools and schools based on objectives, not Common Core
- Opposes legalization of marijuana
- Opposes government-run healthcare
- Opposes green energy
- Community involvement
- Wants to using public money build the Milwaukee Bucks a new stadium for approx. $320 million
- Announced he is going to cut approx $250 million from Wisconsin’s public university budget
- Personal health
- Was a boy scout
- Wife Tonette Walker works for the American Lung Association (a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research).
