LOS ANGELES — Clicking on BoyMeetsCongress.com leads to the campaign website for Ben Savage, the star of a similarly named 1990s network sitcom who is now running for Congress to represent part of Los Angeles County.
The baby-faced 42-year-old, a Democrat, is among a dozen candidates officially vying for the seat held by Rep. Adam B. Schiff, who hopes to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Rivals include a board member of the nation's second-largest school district, state legislators, a West Hollywood council member and a former Los Angeles city attorney — people who have won elections and governed.
Yet none have received the attention Savage has — a televised interview on "Good Morning America 3," as well as articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN — even though he came in seventh place in his only prior run for public office. The candidacy of Savage, whose "Boy Meets World" coming-of-age series was particularly popular among millennials, is the latest test of how much celebrity matters in American politics.
