The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - Talk-show host Jerry Springer is considering running for the U.S. Senate next year.

Mr. Springer, 59, a Democrat, said he will decide by summer whether to challenge George Voinovich, a Republican who has said he will run for a second six-year term in 2004.

Mr. Springer figures it would take $20 million to beat Mr. Voinovich and as much as $5 million to win a Democratic primary.

"I have the resources," the millionaire said Wednesday night before speaking at the winter meeting of the Ohio Democratic Party Chairs Association.

Mr. Springer is a former Cincinnati mayor and councilman who lost the Democratic primary for governor in 1982 and considered running for the Senate in 2000. He said he also may run for Cincinnati mayor in 2005 or governor in 2006.

"I want to be helpful in rebuilding the party," he said. "Whether I have to be a candidate is a totally separate issue. ... I don't need a job." He admitted that his nationally syndicated show - characterized by guests who disclose sex secrets and flaunt antisocial behavior - could work against him.

"There are pluses and minuses," he said. "The plus is that I'm known by everybody. The minus is that I'm known by everybody."