Springer enters Senate election race

Jerry Springer, the controversial talk show host whose programme often spotlighted the seedier side of American culture, has officially filed papers to run for the US Senate.

The Ohio Senate clerk received the statement of candidacy and organisation for the “Jerry Springer for US Senate” committee yesterday afternoon.

Springer, the former mayor of Cincinnati, will make a final decision on whether to run by the end of the month. State Senator Eric Fingerhut has already announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination and the right to challenge first-term Senator George Voinovich, a Republican who served as governor of Ohio from 1991-99.

Voinovich, who won in 1998 with 57% of the vote, is considered a formidable candidate.

Springer, 59, filed the papers to avoid possible legal problems for airing a 30-minute fund-raising advert that was broadcast last Thursday, according to Mike Ford, Springer’s political adviser.

The commercial, paid for by Springer, is part biography and part fund-raiser. It explains how Springer’s parents fled Nazi Germany for England, then moved to the United States just before Springer’s fifth birthday. The advert seeks small donations and offers T-shirts, bumper stickers and CDs of Springer singing “rockabilly” music.

The advert will be broadcast for about two weeks in several US cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, San Antonio and New York. Ford would not say how much it cost.

It was not immediately scheduled to air in Ohio because of concerns over equal access, meaning TV stations would have to offer equivalent time to other candidates.

Springer has made appearances across Ohio during the last several months as he decides whether to become a candidate.