Roger Hedgecock
Roger Hedgecock | |
---|---|
30th Mayor of San Diego | |
In office May 3, 1983 – December 5, 1985 | |
Preceded by | Bill Cleator (acting) |
Succeeded by | Maureen O'Connor |
Personal details | |
Born | Roger Allan Hedgecock May 2, 1946 UC Hastings College of Law |
Profession | Radio Talk Show Host, Politician |
Website | www |
Roger Allan Hedgecock (born May 2, 1946) is an American politician and conservative talk radio host, who served as 30th mayor of San Diego between May 1983 and December 1985. His show is syndicated by Radio America.
Early life
Hedgecock was born in
He graduated from the
Hedgecock was not qualified for military service during the Vietnam War for medical reasons. His severe acne caused him to be rated first 1-Y and then 4-F.[2]
Political career
Hedgecock first became active in politics at an early age, having volunteered to work in
In 1983 he was elected mayor of San Diego. Although San Diego
In 1985, Hedgecock was charged with felonies related to receiving over $350,000 in illegal campaign funds and was forced from office because of the scandal.
A San Diego appellate court ruled in 1988 that the judge presiding over the second trial "who had announced from the bench that he believed Hedgecock was guilty was wrong to block release of the transcripts to the defendant. Hedgecock was denied access to the documents for two more years until he appealed to the
The defense obtained the transcripts in October 1990. The following month, Hedgecock reached a plea deal with prosecutors of one count of conspiracy in return for no prison time and no retrial. As part of the deal, a judge reduced the felony to a misdemeanor and dismissed the case on December 31, 1990.[9]
Radio and television career
With the controversy ending his political career, Hedgecock accepted a job as a talk show host on San Diego's AM 1130 KSDO, where he remained until moving to KOGO AM 600 in 1997.[10][11] He started four days after resigning from the mayoralty, with his first show on January 20, 1986. His show aired from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Several years later, Hedgecock's time slot moved to 12 noon to 3 p.m., to make room for The Rush Limbaugh Show in the schedule. His show eventually moved to the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. time slot.
Beginning in November 2007, Hedgecock hosted a nationally syndicated radio talk show on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon,
In November 2011, it was announced that Hedgecock would be leaving his local flagship station, KOGO, and would move his nationally syndicated show to a new flagship home, radio station AM 760 KFMB, San Diego's CBS radio and television network affiliate. His weekday 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time broadcast debuted there on January 2, 2012. The show format continues to focus on political and social topics from a conservative point of view.
He has done simulcasts with talk hosts from other areas of the country, such as
Until October 2007, he was also a frequent guest host for The Rush Limbaugh Show, also nationally syndicated. Hedgecock was not invited again to guest host for Limbaugh after that time, according to Hedgecock's producer of 15 years, because Limbaugh became angry when Hedgecock started a syndicated radio program on Saturdays without first informing Limbaugh.[12]
To do his show, Hedgecock receives over $300,000 per year from Radio America, a division of the tax-exempt
Hedgecock appeared as a guest on
On February 23, 2015, during the opening of his radio program, Hedgecock announced that he would be leaving his show on March 27, 2015. He made clear he would continue to do correspondence and interviews, but it would be the end of his radio show that he started in 1986, "before Rush and before Hannity," when people told him that talking politics on the radio was taboo.
Controversies
In 1994, Hedgecock organized a group of protesters calling themselves "The Normal People". They applied to march in the Pride parade “in political disagreement to the homosexual agenda.” When rejected by the organizers of the parade, Hedgecock filed a lawsuit, arguing that their exclusion violated San Diego's "Human Dignity Ordinance." The
Hedgecock drew the attention of civil rights groups in 2006 when he invited white nationalists and other extremists to an anti-immigrant conference that he organized.[16] He also was criticized for inviting one of the white nationalists, Peter Brimelow, onto a radio program Hedgecock hosted in 2008.[17]
Lawsuit against city of San Diego
In April 2017, Hedgecock sued the city of San Diego for "the loss of support, service, love, companionship, society, affection, relations and solace from his wife" (according to court records) after his wife broke her breast implants when she tripped on a public street; the lawsuit alleges that the sidewalk was uneven due to a nearby tree, causing Hedgecock's wife to fall.[18]
Other endeavors
In his early years, Hedgecock was an
In the months before the infamous
In 1986 he formed a band with well-known San Diego journalist Thomas K. Arnold called The Arnold-Hedgecock Experience. Arnold was a writer for the
Personal life
He resides in San Diego. Since 2016, Hedgecock and his wife Cindy Hedgecock also own a 10-acre apple orchard in Julian, California, a mountain town east of San Diego.[22] They have two sons.
Published works
- Roger Hedgecock and Francine Phillips, If We Say it Enough We'll Believe It (1992)
- Roger Hedgecock and Francine Phillips, Fight City Hall and Win (1993)
References
- ^ "Personality Spotlight;NEWLN:San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock: Environmentalist who never lost an election". United Press International. February 14, 1985. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
- ^ "San Diego City Beat, Jan. 21, 2004".
- ^ Horstman, Barry (January 12, 1986). "Mayor's Race in San Diego Shaping Up as 3-Way Battle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
- ^ Farnsworth, Margie (January 2004). "The Los Angelization of San Diego". San Diego Magazine. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ Chase, Carolyn (21 December 2000). "Blueprint for Los Angelization". San Diego Earth Times. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ "Headliners; His Honor Is Guilty". The New York Times. October 13, 1985.
- ^ "Former Financier Pleads Guilty In Hedgecock Campaign Case". AP NEWS.
- ^ Acuna, Armando (April 19, 1986). "Hedgecock Aides Admit Breaking Law : Two Plead Guilty to Conspiracy in Ex-Mayor's 1983 Campaign". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b c Abrahamson, Alan (February 2, 1992). "Bailiff's Bias in Hedgecock Trial Disclosed". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Shroder-Murray, Susan. "Ousted ex-mayor new talk show host", United Press International. January 20, 1986. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ^ Arnold, Thomas K. "Why Did They Fire John Coleman?", San Diego Reader. April 10, 1997. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
- ^ a b c Bauder, Don (March 6, 2013). "The unmaking and making of Roger Hedgecock". www.sandiegoreader.com.
- ^ Sharma, Amita (23 October 2012). "Manchester's Foray Into Journalism Elicits Praise And Worry". KPBS Public Media.
- ^ Richard Horgan (September 27, 2012). "Bill Maher Conservative Panelist: 'I Made the Mistake of Replying With Facts'". Adweek.
- ^ "1994". San Diego Pride. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
- ^ "Radio Personality Roger Hedgecock Gathers Colleagues for Anti-Immigration Event in Washington D.C." Southern Poverty Law Center.
- ^ "Federation for American Immigration Reform Puts Black Activists Front and Center at D.C. Rally". Southern Poverty Law Center.
- ^ "Fake breasts popped after fall in Pacific Beach". KGTV. 13 April 2017.
- ^ "Kicks: San Diego's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine". Thomas K. Arnold, Publisher. 1980 interview with Roger Hedgcock.
- ^ Horstman, Barry (October 5, 1986). "Hedgecock : Enjoying Life Beyond Politics Despite a Lingering Legal Cloud". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
- ^ "About Us". Media Play News. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
- ^ Bell, Diane (22 September 2016). "Roger Hedgecock picks new career: apple grower". San Diego Union-Tribune.