Jerry Springer Net Worth: Former TV Presenter Leaves Ohio Governor Race

American television presenter and former Democratic Cincinnati Mayor Jerry Springer announced Thursday he won’t be running for governor of Ohio in 2018.

Springer made the announcement during his podcast Nov. 30 and told his friend and podcast co-host, Jene Galvin, “It's not something as a husband and a father and a grandfather that I can do at this point," CNN reported.

Celebrity Net Worth reported as of May 2017, Springer, who is an English-born American TV host, has a net worth of $45 million. Apart from being known as the former mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, he is also widely popular as the talk show host of “The Jerry Springer Show,” a political commentary program that shifted its focal point to tabloid news in the mid-90s. Springer’s assets also include a lavish house in Sarasota, Florida, which has a value of more than $2 million, according to a website named cownetworth.com.

Born as Gerald Norman Springer in London, United Kingdom, and raised in Queens, New York, he is considered a cultural icon in the field of talk shows. He first began his career as a campaign advisor to Robert Kennedy but after Kennedy’s assassination, Springer shifted his focus to law and got elected into the Cincinnati City Council in 1971. He was elected as the mayor of Cincinnati for two terms beginning 1977, after which he made an unsuccessful attempt at becoming the governor of Ohio in 1982.

After this failed stint, Springer started making a mark in broadcasting by starting his own TV show. Reports stated at one point during the late 1990s, Springer got so popular he surpassed the reputation of the “Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Talking about backing out of the race, Springer revealed he made the decision of not running for governor during Thanksgiving dinner with his family.

"They love me, so they say you've got to do what you want to do. Well, no. I've got to do what I know deep in their hearts they want and what could make their life better," he said.

In addition to this, Springer added if he is elected as the governor of Ohio, he would take the office just a month before his 75th birthday and that he is not prepared for the five-year commitment of campaigning and governing. However, until August Springer had specified to CNN he has not taken a decision regarding running the governor's race yet.

His decision might come as a surprise for many because more than half a dozen Democrats, including former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke, had supposedly pushed for Springer to run, according to a report from Business Insider.

Springer had told The Cincinnati Enquirer in February he would be "Trump without the racism," owing to the fact that he could also get a lot of populist votes like the president received.