Mayor 2 Chainz?

Don't be too shocked if you see rapper 2 Chainz on an election ballot in the near future. Yes, really. 2 Chainz is considering running for mayor of his hometown of College Park, Georgia, as he announced to the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Jan. 27. As he told the newspaper,

I am looking forward to running at the end of this year or next year. [I’m] waiting to see if I meet all of the qualifications!

The "I'm Different" hip hop star, whose legal name is Tauheed Epps, first expressed a desire to run for office to XXL magazine on Jan. 26, saying, "I’m supposed to be running for mayor in College Park. I got everybody wishing."

Fresh off the heels of his much publicized debate with Nancy Grace on her talk show about marijuana legalization, it looks like 2 Chainz is seriously interested in taking his political views to the next level. Sure, we know that he can hold his own in a political debate, and we know that he's smart, considering he graduated with a 4.0 GPA from Alabama State University. But what would it take for him to actually become mayor of his hometown, and what views would he endorse (besides, obviously, the decriminalization of pot)?

Jack Longino, the current mayor of College Park, who has held the position for nearly 20 years, said that a 2 Chainz win could be possible — if the rapper moves back to College Park and actually lives there for some time. According to the town's candidate qualifying criteria, to run for office, one must be a resident of the city for one year at the time of qualification. One must also be a U.S. citizen, a registered voter within the ward, and must not have been convicted or sentenced for violation of election laws, wrongdoing in office, or a felony involving moral turpitude. 2 Chainz does have a history of being charged with felonies, both for drug possession, but he got his voting rights back after the first one and had the other felony charge dropped. And the candidate qualifying criteria does give some leeway to candidates who provide verification that their rights have been restored. Of course, after going through the qualifications, he would also have to sign up, and then the people would decide from there.

So let's say 2 Chainz For Mayor becomes a real thing. Other than pushing for weed legalization, he would probably continue his vocal support of getting voting rights back for former felons. After all, he has worked as a main spokesperson for Respect My Vote, a campaign to mobilize the youth vote, where he helped provide information for reinstating voter rights. 2 Chainz was also vocal about voting for Obama back in 2012, so although he might not necessarily agree with everything that the president supports, it's safe to say that 2 Chainz would likely be interested in supporting more left-wing views as opposed to right-wing ones.

For now, we will have to stay tuned to see if this comes to pass!

Image: Getty Images