Radel began his career as a journalist, working as both an anchor and a reporter. He interned for CNN at its headquarters in Atlanta. He then worked for CBS affiliatesKHOU in Houston, WBBM in Chicago, and WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Florida. In 2005, Radel bought the Naples Journal, a community newspaper that he later sold to the E.W. Scripps Company, the owner of Naples Daily News. In 2007, after selling the Journal, Radel returned to WINK. He remained at the station until in 2009, when he left to host a live, 4-hour long morning radio show on WFSX-FM 92.5 Fox News Radio. Radel would return to the station in September 2016 to host mornings. A year later, he moved to afternoon drive time, the time slot he hosts today.
Author
On March 28, 2017, Blue Rider Press, an imprint of the Random House company, released Radel’s book, Democrazy, a True Story of Weird Politics, Money, Madness, and Finger Food. The book was reviewed by HuffPost as "a brutally honest, outrageous memoir" which exposes "how the Washington sausage really gets made.” Along with former New York GovernorGeorge Pataki, Radel co-authored Beyond the Great Divide: How a Nation Became a Neighborhood. The book was published by Post Hill Press and described as, “An unprecedented, insider view into 9/11 and the inner workings of the political climate that emerged after the attacks.”
Acting career
Radel was trained as an actor and a comedian and performed improvisational work at Second City in Chicago. In 2016, Radel started what would become a recurring role as a TV news anchor on the show StartUp on the Sony owned App Crackle. He also played the lead, starring as a detective, in the series Truth is Stranger than Florida on the Investigation Discovery network.
Nonprofit work
Radel, along with his wife, founded a nonprofit organization called the U.S. Forces Fund, which focuses on helping injured soldiers returning home from abroad.
Radel represented Florida's 19th congressional district from January 3, 2013 through January 27, 2014, sworn into the 113th United States Congress. The district is located in Southwest Florida and includes Fort Myers, Naples and Cape Coral. Republican 14th District Congressman Connie Mack IV decided not to run for reelection to his seat, in order to challenge Democratic U.S. Senator Bill 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. 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. Radel's political philosophy is conservative, but he nevertheless has said he supports the principles of the DREAM Act. Radel was endorsed by the incumbent Connie Mack IV, former U.S. Senator Connie Mack III, and former New York City MayorRudy Giuliani. Chauncey Goss was endorsed by U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan. Radel won the primary with 30% of the vote, primarily on the strength of his showing in his native Lee County. His primary campaign featured a "Tea Party-tinged" message. In the general election Radel faced Democrat Jim Roach of Cape Coral, a retired GM research 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.
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. 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. Following his conviction for cocaine possession, Radel went on a self-imposed leave of absence to undergo addiction rehabilitation, announcing that he would be donating his salary to charity during his absence. Radel stopped short of resigning. The Republican Party of Florida and Governor Rick Scott called for his resignation. On January 27, 2014, Radel announced he would resign from Congress. He had not voted in Congress after November 15, 2013 in the wake of the conviction. In late January 2014, Radel officially tendered his resignation in a letter to Speaker of the HouseJohn Boehner. Republican businessman Curt Clawson won 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.
Personal life
Radel is married to FOX-4 anchor Amy Wegmann. They have one child, and live in Fort Myers.
