As NewsBlues points out, this may have been a good year for Republicans nationally, but some broadcasters who tried to make the jump from the tube to political office as GOP’ers didn’t fare too well.
AND THE WINNER ISN’T
Not all Republican candidates won Congressional seats.
Janet Peckinpaugh, the veteran news anchor at NBC O&O WVIT-30 in Hartford (Market #28) who left the business in 2006 ending a 29-year TV news career, lost to incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney by more than 20 percentage points. Peckinpaugh didn’t even register as a Republican until shortly before the party convention in May.
Harold Johnson, the veteran sports anchor at Cox Broadcasting’s top-rated WSOC-9-ABC in Charlotte (Market #25) who retired in Dec. 2006 ending a 26-year TV career, lost to incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell.
Nearly five years after his retirement, Johnson’s bio remains on the WSOC website.
Democrat Deborah Gianoulis, the veteran news anchor at Post-Newsweek’s independent WJXT-4 in Jacksonville (Market #49) who retired in May 2003 ending a 24-year TV career, was thoroughly thrashed by incumbent Republican State Sen. John Thrasher in her run for the Florida Senate.
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