Howard Stern Ends Bid for Governor; Won’t Divulge Data

Raunchy radio personality Howard Stern dropped out of the race for governor Thursday rather than disclose his personal finances as required of all candidates.

“I spend 25 hours a week telling you all the most intimate details of my life,” Stern said at an on-air news conference. “One fact I’ve never revealed is how much I make and how much money I have . . . it’s none of your business.”

Stern earns millions from his syndicated radio show, cable TV and a best-selling autobiography, “Private Parts.” He said his contracts “prohibit me from discussing financial terms in any form.”

Stern, 40, jumped into the race earlier this year on a platform calling for adding toll booths to ease traffic, limiting road construction to night hours and restoring the death penalty. His slogan: “A volt for every vote.”

He promised to resign as soon as those pledges were fulfilled.

Stern was nominated by the Libertarian Party, which has 700 members in the state. He had about one-third of the 15,000 signatures needed by Aug. 23 to get his name on the ballot.