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Trey Radel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trey Radel
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromFlorida's19thdistrict
In office
January 3, 2013 – January 27, 2014
Preceded byConnie Mack IV(Redistricting)
Succeeded byCurt Clawson
Personal details
Born
Henry Jude Radel III

(1976-04-20)April 20, 1976(age 48)
Cincinnati,Ohio,U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAmy Wegmann
Children3
EducationLoyola University Chicago(BA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Henry Jude Radel III(born April 20, 1976) is an Americanradio personality,political commentator,author, actor, and former member of theUnited States House of Representatives.Radel’s show airs on the Florida-based stationWFSX-FM,aFox News Radioaffiliate.

Early life and education

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Radel was born in 1976 inCincinnati,Ohio, the son of Kathleen (Sollinger) and Henry Jude Radel, Jr. He attendedElder High School.Radel majored in communications and minored inItalianatLoyola University Chicago.[1]

Media career

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Radel began his career as a journalist, working as both ananchorand a reporter.[2]He interned forCNNat its headquarters inAtlanta.Radel then worked forCBSaffiliatesKHOUinHouston,WBBMinChicago,andWINK-TVinFort Myers, Florida.

In 2005, Radel bought theNaples Journal,a community newspaper that he later sold to theE.W. Scripps Company,the owner ofNaples Daily News.In 2007, after selling theJournal,Radel returned to WINK, leaving in 2009 to host a live, 4-hour long morning radio show onWFSX-FM.

Radel would return to the station in September 2016 to host mornings. A year later, he moved to afternoondrive time,the time slot[3]he hosts today.

Writing

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Trey Radel on Set ofThe Truth Is Stranger Than Floridaon The Discovery Network

On March 28, 2017, Blue Rider Press, an imprint of theRandom Housecompany, released Radel’s book,Democrazy,[4]a True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food.The book was reviewed[5]byHuffPostas "a brutally honest, outrageous memoir" which exposes "how the Washington sausage really gets made.” Along with formerNew YorkGovernorGeorge Pataki,Radel co-authoredBeyond the Great Divide[6]:How a Nation Became a Neighborhood.The book was published byPost Hill Pressand described[6]as, “An unprecedented, insider view into 9/11 and the inner workings of the political climate that emerged after the attacks.”

Acting

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Radel was trained as an actor and a comedian and performed improvisational work atSecond Cityin Chicago.[1]

In 2016, Radel started what would become a recurring role as a TV news anchor on the showStartUp,which debuted on theSony-owned appCrackleand was later purchased and streamed onNetflix.[7]He also played the lead, starring as a detective, in the seriesTruth is Stranger than Floridaon theInvestigation Discoverynetwork. Radel’s most recent role was on theDisney+series,The Right Stuff,produced byLeonardo DiCaprio.He played the part of a reporter.[8]

U.S. House of Representatives

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Radel representedFlorida's 19th congressional districtfrom January 3, 2013 through January 27, 2014, sworn into the113th United States Congress.[9]The district is located in Southwest Florida and includes Fort Myers,NaplesandCape Coral.

Election

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See also:2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida § District 19

Incumbent Republican RepresentativeConnie Mack IVdecided not to run for reelection to his seat, in order to challengeDemocraticU.S. SenatorBill Nelson.Radel decided to run in the open seat, which had been renumbered as the 19th District. Five other Republican candidates also filed to run.

Controversy occurred when it was discovered that the campaign committee "Friends of Trey Radel, Inc." had purchased his opponents' domain names nearly a year before he announced he was going to run for office.[10]When this was revealed, his campaign committee created websites and attached them to his opponents' domain names, purportedly for the purpose of disseminating the voting records of the opponents, which were posted on the websites.[10]

Radel's political philosophy is conservative, but he nevertheless has said he supports the principles of theDREAM Act.[11]Radel was endorsed by the incumbent Connie Mack IV, former U.S. SenatorConnie Mack III,and formerNew York City MayorRudy Giuliani.[12]Chauncey Goss (who finished second to Radel in the primary)[13]was endorsed by U.S. CongressmanPaul Ryan.[14]Radel won the primary with 30% of the vote, primarily on the strength of his showing in his native Lee County.[15]His primary campaign featured a "Tea Party-tinged "message.[16]

In the general election, Radel faced Democrat Jim Roach of Cape Coral, a retiredGMresearch engineer and Vietnam veteran. Radel was heavily favored to win because 19th has long been reckoned as one of the most Republican districts in Florida. Radel won the 2012 election with 63% of the vote.[17]

Conviction and resignation

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On October 29, 2013, Radel was arrested in the District of Columbia after attempting to buy 3.5 grams of cocaine from an undercover federal officer.[18][19]Less than a month later, Radel pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of possession of cocaine and was sentenced to one year of supervised probation.[20]

Following his conviction for cocaine possession, Radel went on a self-imposedleave of absenceto undergo addiction rehabilitation, announcing that he would be donating his salary to charity during his absence. Radel stopped short of resigning.[19][21]TheRepublican Party of Floridaand GovernorRick Scottcalled for his resignation.[18]On January 27, 2014, Radel announced he would resign from Congress.[18][22][23]He had not voted in Congress after November 15, 2013 in the wake of the conviction.[24]In late January 2014, Radel officially tendered his resignation in a letter toSpeaker of the HouseJohn Boehner.Republican businessmanCurt Clawsonwon the special general election held on June 24, 2014 to replace him.

Radel completed all conditions of his probation in October 2014, and he successfully petitioned the court to expunge his criminal record.[25][26]

Committee assignments

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Filmography

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Radel at a book signing, 2020

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2016 Truth is Stranger than Florida Lead detective Television show
2016–2017 StartUp TV news anchor Web series
2020 The Right Stuff Reporter 1 Television show

Electoral history

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2012

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2012 Florida's 19th congressional district Republican primary[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Trey Radel 22,284 30.0%
Republican Chauncey Goss 15,994 21.5%
Republican Paige Kreegel 13,148 17.7%
Republican Gary Aubuchon 11,486 15.5%
Republican Byron Donalds 10,376 14.0%
Republican Joe Davidow 1,026 1.4%
Total votes 74,314 100.00
2012 Florida's 19th congressional district general election[27]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Trey Radel 189,833 62.0%
Democratic Jim Roach 109,746 35.8%
Independent Brandon Smith 6,637 2.2%
Total votes 303,216 100.00

Personal life

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Radel is married toFox-4anchor Amy Wegmann.[28]They have three children, and live in Fort Myers.[29][30]Radel is also fluent inSpanish.[1]

Nonprofit work

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Radel, along with his wife, founded anonprofit organizationcalled the U.S. Forces Fund,[31]which focuses on helping injured soldiers returning home from abroad. Radel also works with the local Harry Chapin Food Bank.[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abc"Catching Up With Congressman Trey Radel".Fort Myers Florida Weekly.2013-01-30.Retrieved2019-11-23.
  2. ^"Correspondent",Wikipedia,2019-11-15,retrieved2019-11-23
  3. ^Batten, Brent."Change made to Trey Radel's radio show".Naples Daily News.Retrieved2019-11-23.
  4. ^Democrazy: A True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food.Blue Rider Press. 28 March 2017.ISBN9780735210721.Retrieved2019-11-23– via www.amazon.com.
  5. ^"Democrazy by Trey Radel".Penguin Random House Canada.Retrieved2019-11-23.
  6. ^abPataki, George (April 14, 2020).Beyond the Great Divide: How a Nation Became a Neighborhood.Post Hill Press.ISBN978-1642932317.
  7. ^"StartUp (TV series)",Wikipedia,2021-05-31,retrieved2021-06-04
  8. ^"Trey Radel".IMDb.Retrieved2020-12-18.
  9. ^Radel, Henry J. III,FEC filing for office
  10. ^abWard, Kenric (25 April 2012)."Trey Radel Shuts" Domain Gate "– Will Give Up Websites".Sunshine State News.RetrievedNovember 8,2012.
  11. ^"» Trey Radel Just Can't Seem To Avoid Controversy".FloridaPoliticalPress.com. July 29, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon September 2, 2012.RetrievedNovember 7,2012.
  12. ^"Endorsements « Trey Radel".Treyradel.com. Archived fromthe originalon November 4, 2012.RetrievedNovember 7,2012.
  13. ^"Florida Division of Elections".Archived fromthe originalon November 5, 2014.
  14. ^Buzzacco, Jenna (August 14, 2012)."Radel declares victory in Southwest Florida race for Congress".Naples Daily News.Archived fromthe originalon August 29, 2012.RetrievedNovember 7,2012.
  15. ^"FL District 19 – R Primary Race – Aug 14, 2012".Our Campaigns.RetrievedNovember 7,2012.
  16. ^Cocaine and the Congressman: The Trey Radel you didn't know,Naples Daily News(November 23, 2013).
  17. ^"Redistricting Florida U.S. House Districts".Tampabay.com. Archived fromthe originalon June 21, 2012.RetrievedNovember 7,2012.
  18. ^abc"Trey Radel: Florida Republicans urge cocaine congressman to quit".BBC News.November 25, 2013.RetrievedNovember 26,2013.
  19. ^abLuscombe, Richard (January 27, 2014)."Florida congressman Trey Radel to resign after cocaine conviction".The Guardian.RetrievedJanuary 27,2014.
  20. ^Sherman, Jake (November 20, 2013)."Trey Radel pleads guilty to cocaine possession".Politico.RetrievedNovember 20,2013.
  21. ^Sherman, Jake (20 November 2013)."Trey Radel taking leave of absence from Congress".Politico.RetrievedNovember 20,2013.
  22. ^Sherman, Jake; Isenstadt, Alex (January 27, 2014)."Radel resigns from House seat".Politico.RetrievedJanuary 27,2014.
  23. ^Henderson, Jeff (November 28, 2013)."Republicans Gear Up to Replace Trey Radel in Congress".Sunshine State News.RetrievedNovember 29,2013.
  24. ^Thorp, Frank (January 2, 2014)."Out of rehab, Radel to return to House next week".NBC News.
  25. ^Camia, Catalina."Trey Radel's criminal record cleared of cocaine charge".USA Today Politics.Retrieved12 November2014.
  26. ^King, Ledyard (October 30, 2014)."Ex-congressman Trey Radel's record expunged".The News-Press.
  27. ^ab"Trey Radel".
  28. ^ab"Broadcaster Trey Radel running for Connie Mack's congressional seat".Naples Daily News.January 6, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon January 29, 2013.RetrievedNovember 7,2012.
  29. ^"Amy Wegmann, Anchor".fox4now.com.WFTX-TV.Retrieved11 June2021.
  30. ^"Florida House District 19 race: Republican primary candidates".Naples Daily News.August 5, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon August 8, 2012.RetrievedNovember 7,2012.
  31. ^"Detail by Entity Name".search.sunbiz.org.Retrieved2019-11-23.
[edit]
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromFlorida's 19th congressional district
2013–2014 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence(ceremonial)
Preceded byas former U.S. Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as former U.S. Representative 		Succeeded byas former U.S. Representative
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trey_Radel&oldid=1233962149"