dark horse candidate
Unexpected election challenger
A dark horse candidate is someone who unexpectedly emerges as a serious contender in a competition, especially an election.
The term comes from horse racing, where an unknown horse surprises the field.
In politics, it often describes a candidate who gains momentum late or wins a nomination when better-known rivals falter: He came out of nowhere as a dark horse candidate and won the primary.
- underdogPresumed loser beforehand
- come from behindOvercome a deficit
- longshotUnlikely to succeed
- long oddsUnfavorable probability ratio
- outsiderOne excluded from group
out of nowhere · surprise · upset victory · upset · contender · unknown · sleeper · challenger · wildcard · unexpected · nominee · primary · straw poll · Super Tuesday · election · poll · campaign · convention
- Horse Idiomsworkhorse, horseplay, one-trick pony, pony up
- underdogsunderdog, underdogs, Cinderella, sleeper, long shot
- Polk PresidencyJames K. Polk, Manifest Destiny, Mexican-American War, territorial expansion, James Buchanan
- Nominationsnomination, nominee, nomination process, nomination speech, nominating committee
dark horse candidatefrontrunner
Leading candidate or competitor
favorite · shoo-in · sure thing · safe bet · chalk
dark horse candidatehousehold name
Widely recognized person or brand
known quantity · familiar face · media darling · public figure
horse, candidate, darker, darkest, darken, darkened, darkening, darkness, darkly