Jerry Springer Rules Out Senate Run
By NANCY NUSSBAUM, AP
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Talk show host Jerry Springer said Friday he won't run for
the U.S. Senate next year because of other obligations. Springer, often criticized for his
show's brawling guests and trashy topics, had been considering running against Republican
Senator Mike DeWine.
``My current contractual obligations and commitments ... make it impractical if
not impossible for me to make a run for the Senate at this time,'' Springer said in a
statement issued by his office in Chicago, where he tapes his show.
Springer, 55, is a former two-term mayor of Cincinnati who ran for governor in
1982 as a liberal Democrat before embarking on a TV career. He worked as an anchor and
commentator before discovering that foul-mouthed, chair-throwing guests could make him the
nation's No. 2-rated daytime talk show host.
The idea of a Senate run surfaced in late July, when Hamilton County Democratic
Party Chairman Tim Burke, and old friend of Springer, told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer
that he would be a ``viable, fascinating, interesting candidate.''
The prospect of his candidacy was condemned by many officeholders and editorial
writers.
``My only reaction is pure joy,'' said U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, who had
vowed never to share a stage with Springer if he was the party's nominee. Strickland had
been recruited to run for the Senate but decided to remain in the House.
``I don't want him to run. I think he is a joke,'' Senate Minority Leader Tom
Daschle, D-S.D., had said earlier.
But Springer had received support from organized labor in Ohio. He had
said earlier that he was ``obviously flattered and honored by the interest'' even though
he wasn't sure it was a practical idea.
DeWine, a former prosecutor and congressman, is in his first term in the Senate.
He won the 1994 race to succeed the retiring Democratic Sen. Howard Metzenbaum.
The most experienced Democrats in Ohio have taken a pass on the chance to run
against DeWine. Only Richard Cordray, a former state representative with little statewide
name recognition, is exploring a candidacy.
Springer's friend Burke expressed
