Zoltan was reluctant to even create this page, since politics brings up so much emotion and polarization. However, keeping the record simple, honest and factual seemed needed, given how much misinformation is out there:
Zoltan Istvan has been a political candidate in multiple official campaigns: twice for the US Presidency (2016, 2020) and twice for Calfiornia Governor (2018, 2026). Each of these campaigns, while not successful, have been influential to the public and generated significants amounts of media coverage, resulting in over one hundred millions views combined.
While always trying to win and make a difference, Zoltan has used his political campaigns as a way to get people talking about issues few other candidates mention publicly. Those issues center around AI, longevity, human enhancement, superintelligence, the space industry, and new economic models (Automated Abundance Economy) in an age when automation takes human jobs.
Of course, Zoltan realizes many of his ideas are a bit too far in the future for voters to accept. Despite that, country Presidents have listened to him, major media has interviewed him, celebrities have endorsed him, and crowds of people have greeted him on the campaign trail. Winning isn’t everything; making the world a better place is.
On a final note, Zoltan has run–to the changrin of many people–for all the main political parties in the United States. He doesn’t believe politics should be beholden to a fixed set of ideas in a world that is constantly changing–and therefore doesn’t feel permanently beholden to a specific agenda. He is independent-minded; he believes in the good of technology, freedom, hard work, reason, as well as second-chances, care for one’s neighbor, transparency, Democracy, universal basic income, and attempting to apply the spirit of the Scientific Method to governing. He believes in trying to get each person to become their best.
Below are just a few images of the campaign websites he’s had. All relevant information to each campaign can be found by googling for it, using the Wayback Machine, or reviewing Zoltan’s social media, which has captured all his poltical campaigns start to finish.
2026
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2020
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2018
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2016
