Herman Cain set to host his own radio show

Herman Cain is going back on the air.

The pizza entrepreneur turned talk-show host turned presidential candidate turned unlikely tax policy advocate is turning back into a talk-show host.

Cain is set to replace Neal Boortz on Atlanta’s News/Talk WSB. Boortz announced Monday that after 20 years of hosting “The Neal Boortz Show,” he’s giving up the microphone in January. The libertarian-leaning host has more than 6 million weekly listeners, according to WSB, and is known as the “the high priest of the church of the painful truth.”

Cain is known to many as the high point of weirdness in the 2012 GOP presidential primary season. His bid shot out of nowhere last year, as restless Republican voters seemed to be looking for something different. He was that -- a conservative with a boastful style, a catchy tax plan and his own gospel album.

Many conservatives knew that deep voice from back when. Cain hosted a radio show in Atlanta for three years before launching his candidacy. Since dropping his pursuit of the presidency amid sexual-harassment allegations, he has been delivering weekly commentary and chat on Boortz nationally syndicated show.

“I promise the torch Boortz is handing off to me will blaze as bright, as bold, and as loud as ever,” Cain said in a statement. “He may be ‘The TalkMaster,’ but Neal’s listeners know I’m the ‘The Dean of the University of Common Sense.’”

Cain is scheduled to take over on Jan. 21, Inauguration Day.

kathleen.hennessey@latimes.com