In 2004, Herman Cain ran for Senate. It was an idea he had flirted with for at least a decade. From a 1995 piece in Restaurant Business by Ron Sympson:

Cain, however, has somewhat of a different long-term agenda than does [Ralph] Brennan. Godfather’s chief says he considered making a run for the U.S. Senate last fall, though decided the timing wasn’t right. But, the registered Independent from Nebraska hints, “You should not be shocked if I were running for some kind of public office.”