HILLSBORO, Ohio — Did you hear the one about the R-rated, politically incorrect comedian who moved from L.A. to a small town in Ohio, then ran for mayor?
Drew Hastings hopes the punch line will be, "He got elected."
The veteran standup comic, familiar to "Comedy Central" TV viewers, "The Bob & Tom Show" radio listeners and club patrons across the country, won a three-way Republican primary earlier this year and now is trying to fend off a retired banker opposing him as an independent on Tuesday in the race to lead his economically struggling adopted hometown.
Since buying a 35-acre cattle farm here six years ago, Hastings has gotten increasingly involved in the Hillsboro community, performing a benefit concert and buying and renovating several downtown buildings, including a 19th century opera house. He believes he can help revitalize the city of 6,600 people some 50 miles east of Cincinnati, at the crossroads of two once-major federal highways, 50 and 62.
"I'm brutally serious," Hastings said.
There's no doubt he is waging a campaign meant to win. He's spending some $4,000 of his own money for ads, banners, T-shirts and yard signs, with help from a campaign staffer he says works hard but won't use the Internet. When home from comedy appearances, Hastings goes door to door, hangs out at diners greeting customers or strolls around town, standing out with his spiky, Rod Stewart-style hair and his 6-foot-6 frame draped with dark suitcoats among coverall-wearing farmers.
He's far from being the first entertainer to get involved in his local community and then decide to plunge into politics — actor Clint Eastwood was mayor in Carmel, Calif., for example. He's not even the first comedian: Minnesota has former "Saturday Night Live" comic and writer Al Franken as a U.S. senator, and comedian Steve Berke on Tuesday lost his bid to become mayor of Miami Beach, Fla.
"There is this category of candidates who may not have experience or a lot of money, but they do have the one quality that matters a lot in American politics — and that's name recognition," said Christopher Kelley, a political scientist at Miami University. "Actors, astronauts, athletes. They're often naturally great candidates."
In an era when many people get political news from satirical sources such as Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" or late-night TV monologues, a celebrity humorist who comes off as bright and down-to-earth can also be popular politically, Kelley said.
But why Hastings? Is he gathering material for a new routine or a reality TV show pilot, or aiming to pump up the value of his property investments, some skeptics wonder.
"I don't know what his real motive is," said opponent John Levo, 65, a former 13-year city councilman whose family's farming roots in the region go back several generations. "I think so many people aren't sure."
Levo, a banker for 40 years and a longtime civic activist, thinks Hillsboro needs an experienced leader with hands firmly on the wheel as it navigates through a rough economy, with double-digit unemployment and still reeling from the impact of DHL's pullout from the nearby Wilmington Air Park, costing the region thousands of jobs. He's putting more than $2,000 of his money into the race, and said his door-to-door effort has taken him to 2,400 households, so far reaching all but about 200 in the city.
The new mayor, a part-time job, can choose the next safety and service director and fill other administrative appointments for the city, among other duties. No one filed as a Democrat to replace the retiring two-term incumbent mayor Richard Zink, a Democrat.
Hastings, 57, has found that small-town politics can be sharp-edged. He's faced pointed questions about his past drug use ("I inhaled, if that's what you're asking"), his jokes in his standup routine about his rural home ("When I went to see my doctor, he was sitting on the front step whittling a tongue depressor") and his edgy humor, which is sometimes laced with obscenities and often inappropriate for family audiences, with topics such as erectile dysfunction drugs and workplace shootings — or "snow days for adults," as he calls them. In a recent debate, he defended himself with a reference to the late Johnny Carson, saying "The Tonight Show" host's jokes got less family friendly during Las Vegas showroom gigs.
Hillsboro resident Tom Bailey isn't fazed by Hastings' profession, although he said he's still undecided about the mayor's race.
"Some people might be concerned that he doesn't have any previous experience," said Bailey, a construction worker. "I think that he probably has some good ideas. We need change, I guess."
Veteran Deputy Sheriff Donnie Barrera and his wife have gone door to door on Hastings' behalf.
"I think he'd be a good choice for mayor," Barrera said. "I think we're ready for a change."
Hastings thinks he can bring positive attention to Hillsboro, and said his many years of playing "every small town like this" across the Midwest have given him insights into how some, such as Columbus, Ind., and Lebanon, Ohio, have remade their economies to thrive. He thinks this city can do the same with more downtown renovations, small businesses that emphasize its charm and what he calls "agri-tainment" that will bring city folk to visit — some ideas sound right out of "The Office's" Schrute Farms, with "hay art" and a downhill race aboard round hay bales.
Levo also thinks Hillsboro needs to market itself better. He said he would do more networking regionally on economic solutions and communicating with other local governments. He wants a long-range vision plan for the area, with input from a business-community advisory panel he would form along with a young people's "kitchen cabinet," as Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory has done.
He said by running as an independent, he can help keep city matters nonpartisan. Levo was a Democrat while on council.
Hastings said he's long been a Republican, recalling that a "Bob Dole for President" bumper sticker got his car keyed in Los Angeles. He believes in the private sector to drive the economy, he said — and don't get him started on the Environmental Protection Agency, whom he says he will tell where to stick its mandates.
"I think America is going to hell in a hand basket, and I can't do anything about that," Hastings said. "But I can do something in my small corner of it. This is manageable. This is home."
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