William G. Spadea (born March 25, 1969) is an American businessman and television host from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, who was the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nominee for

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

New Jersey's 12th congressional district New Jersey's 12th congressional district is represented by Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman, who has served in Congress since 2015. The district is known for its research centers and educational institutions such as Princeton University, Rider Un ...

in 2004. He was Chairman of the

College Republican National Committee The College Republican National Committee (CRNC) is a national organization for College Republicans — college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. The organization is known as an active recruiting tool ...

(1993–95) and was the host of ''

Chasing News ''Chasing News with Bill Spadea'' (formerly ''Chasing New Jersey'' and ''Chasing News'') was a news and talk show program broadcast by WWOR-TV, a MyNetworkTV O&O based in Secaucus, New Jersey and serving New York City, and sister to Fox flagship s ...

''. Spadea is a former Republican congressional candidate who became a loyalist to former President Donald Trump. He has spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and vaccines.

Background

Spadea graduated from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in 1991. He is a former

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

receiving an honorable discharge in 1999. Spadea served as the elected Chairman of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC). During his term, the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

discontinued funding for the College Republicans.

CRNC Chairmanship

Spadea began a nationwide program to register students with the CRNC. The use of the standard form for recruitment of College Republicans started during his term from 1993 through 1995 and helped the CRNC to get a grasp on its total membership. He kept contact with the membership through a national newspaper titled the ''Broadside'', which was delivered to tens of thousands of College Republicans across the country. Spadea assisted the hundreds of youth efforts that changed the course of history by electing a Republican Congress for the first time over 40 years in 1994.

Run for Congress and political follow-up

Running a grassroots campaign that included walking 200 miles to each of 44 towns in the district, he polled over 40% of the vote on election day and was ranked 17th out of 157 GOP challengers nationwide. Spadea was successful in raising more money than any other Republican challenger in New Jersey in 2004. He was considered a possible candidate for the United States Senate in 2006. Spadea served as a surrogate speaker for former

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Mayor and

presidential candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

in New Jersey.Profile
politickernj.com; accessed October 24, 2014. In 2012, Spadea ran for the state legislature, running for the 16th District's Assembly seat that was vacant after the death of Assemblyman Peter J. Biondi. In the convention to appoint a replacement, he lost by a three to one margin, earning 52 votes, behind Readington Township Committeewoman

Donna Simon Donna M. Simon (born March 25, 1960) is an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey New Jersey General Assembly, General Assembly, representing the New Jersey's 16th legislative distric ...

with 155 votes. Spadea lost both of his political campaigns, failing to top 40% of the vote either time. Spadea has intimated that he will seek the 2025 GOP nomination for NJ Governor.

Broadcasting

Beginning in December 2015, Spadea has been the morning drive time host on New Jersey 101.5 (

WKXW WKXW (101.5 FM, "New Jersey 101.5") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Trenton, New Jersey. It is owned by Townsquare Media. Its studios and offices are located in Ewing and its broadcast tower, which is shared with WPRB, is l ...

), replacing long time morning personality Jim Gearhart, while continuing to host the ''Chasing News'' television show.

Positions

In June 2018, Spadea advocated for a state constitutional amendment to revoke the

Mount Laurel doctrine The ''Mount Laurel'' doctrine is a significant judicial doctrine of the New Jersey State Constitution. The doctrine requires that municipalities use their zoning powers in an affirmative manner to provide a realistic opportunity for the production ...

, arguing the imposition of unnecessary housing development increased tax burdens unfairly. Spadea was outspoken and critical of the handling of the pandemic by Governor Murphy in New Jersey, specifically the lockdowns and other mandates. Spadea also emceed a December event hosted by the New York Young Republicans whose attendees included white nationalists. Spadea has been criticized by some for his on-air advocacy against the need for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

vaccination and other routine vaccinations in New Jersey.

Personal life

From 1999 to 2013, Spadea worked as a corporate vice president for education and career development in the real estate industry for

Weichert, Realtors Weichert, Realtors is a residential and commercial real estate franchisor founded in Chatham, New Jersey in 1969. Since 1989, the company has been headquartered in Morris Plains, New Jersey. It is a family-owned and operated business led by co-pre ...

. He lives in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

with his wife and their two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spadea, Bill 1969 births American television journalists Businesspeople from New Jersey Boston University alumni College Republican National Committee chairs Living people New Jersey Republicans Place of birth missing (living people) People from Princeton, New Jersey American male journalists