Why do news/talk radio hosts run for elected office?
I suppose you could ask the same question of any candidate from any background. You’d get the same answers: desire to give back to the community, dissatisfaction with the status quo, that sort of thing. Left unsaid is a thirst for power, but that’s surely part of it, too. It’s how things work.
But talk radio hosts have issues that other candidates may not have. If they’re lucky enough to resume their old jobs after taking a run at candidacy, will the audience look at them the same way as before or as compromised by whatever they said on the campaign trail or what was said about them? Do they get the stink of “loser” all over them if they get trounced in the election? And what if they win?
This year, we have a few examples from the tri-state area. (That’s New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. No other three states can claim that name. PA-NJ-DE? Delaware Valley. MD-DC-VA? The DMV. Sorry, that’s the rule.)
The most prominent example was Bill Spadea, the morning host at New Jersey 101.5, who thought for sure that he could win Donald Trump’s endorsement for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey; he did not, and was absolutely crushed in the primary by Trump’s chosen candidate. This wasn’t Spadea’s first try for office – he’d taken shots at winning seats in Congress and the State Assembly and lost both, but he wasn’t hosting a radio show back then.
Now, his radio job’s gone, and there aren’t too many radio jobs available. Hard to imagine giving up a pretty great position like morning host at a big station to get pounded in an election, but there it is. Can he return to radio or television? Gonna be tough.
And across the Goethals Bridge (or the Outerbridge Crossing), Frank Morano had a better result. Morano had a national overnight show for 77 WABC in New York, and it was just gaining traction when he threw his hat into the ring for the New York City Council seat in Staten Island being vacated by his former boss and handily won a special election. That meant giving up the WABC job, but New York City Council members get six-figure salaries; assuming he wins this month’s primary and November’s election for a full term, he’ll likely be on the Council representing his very, very red district for as long as he wants. Radio isn’t going to beat that, is it?
Talk radio hosting and elected office have overlapped before. Mike Pence went from hosting talk radio in Indiana to… well, you know. Frank Rizzo became a talk show host. So did Sam Yorty and Rod Blagojevich, and many more politicians.
Moving in the other direction is harder, though. If you’re a Mayor, or Governor, or Senator and you become a talk host, people have different expectations for you on the radio (although they do want you to entertain them regardless of who you are). If you’re a talk host first, you run the risk of being perceived as phony or, worse, a loser. Is elected office worth that risk?
Yeah, probably. If you win, you get on the political gravy train; once you get into office, you’ll always be able to get some kind of related job once you’re out of office, like lobbyist or CNN panel pundit, or you can get speaker’s fees or write a book that nobody will read but your party will buy in bulk. Radio? You’re only as secure as your latest ratings, and the business is not exactly growing.
So I get why a talk radio host would try politics. If I were in that position, I might try it, too. The only rule to follow is this: Just. Don’t. Lose.
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Perry Michael Simon is a weekly news media columnist for Barrett Media. He previously served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com. Prior to joining the industry trade publication, Perry spent years in radio working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. He can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @PMSimon.
Perry, I’ve known Frank Morano for a long time. We worked together both at WABC and at AM 970 the Answer where I currently work on the morning show with Joe Piscopo as a news reader and tech engineer. Frank won because he lives in the community he is serving and knows the ins and out on Staten Island better than anyone. I am born and raised on Staten Island and Frank knows far more than I do. I live in NJ now and the problem with Bill was he ran a bad campaign. He had one major party boss backing him. He was everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time. His name recognition was great for the southern half of NJ but the Northern half barely knew who he was. Jack Ciatterelli has been running since he lost the election almost 4 years ago. The Trump nomination in my opinion didn’t do that much to sway the voters. Every poll had him way ahead and lots of people knew who he was. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in Nov for sure. Thanks for writing this piece.