Dark Horse - in The Political Arena

In The Political Arena

The concept has been used in political contexts in such countries as Peru, Philippines and United States.

Politically, the concept came to America in the nineteenth century when it was first applied to James K. Polk, a relatively unknown Tennessee Democrat who won the Democratic Party's 1844 presidential nomination over a host of better-known candidates. Polk won the nomination on the ninth ballot, and went on to win the presidential election.

Other famous dark horse candidates for the United States presidency include:

• Franklin Pierce, chosen as the Democratic nominee and later elected the 14th president in 1852.
• Abraham Lincoln, chosen as the Republican nominee and elected as the 16th president in 1860.
• Rutherford B. Hayes, elected the 19th president in 1876.
• James A. Garfield, elected the 20th president in 1880.
• Warren G. Harding, elected the 29th president in 1920 after his surprise nomination.
• Jimmy Carter, elected the 39th president in 1976; in the beginning of that same year, Carter was a relative unknown outside his home state of Georgia.

Outside of the United States, the dark horse status also attributed to Alberto Fujimori, who rose to the Presidency in Peru and Jejomar Binay, who rose to the Vice Presidency in the Philippines.

In a 2011 article about possible successors for Hugo Chávez, Sarah Grainger for the BBC News website referred to former army officer Diosdado Cabello, who helped Hugo Chávez to stage a failed coup in 1992, as a dark horse.