Mr Jerry Springer has officially filed papers to run for the US Senate.
The Ohio Senate clerk received the statement of candidacy and organisation for the "Jerry Springer for US Senate" committee earlier.
The controversial talk show host whose programme often spotlighted the seedier side of American culture, will make a final decision on whether to run by the end of the month.
State Senator Mr Eric Fingerhut has already announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination and the right to challenge first-term Senator Mr George Voinovich, a Republican who served as governor of Ohio from 1991-99.
Mr Voinovich, who won in 1998 with 57 per cent of the vote, is considered a formidable candidate.
Mr Springer, 59, the former mayor of Cincinnati, filed the papers to avoid possible legal problems for airing a 30-minute fund-raising advert that was broadcast last Thursday, according to Mr Mike Ford, Mr Springer's political adviser.
The commercial, paid for Mr by Springer, is part biography and part fund-raiser. It explains how MrMr Springer's parents fled Nazi Germany for England, then moved to the United States just before his fifth birthday.
The advert seeks small donations and offers T-shirts, bumper stickers and CDs of Mr Springer singing "rockabilly" music.
The advert will be broadcast for about two weeks in several US cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, San Antonio and New York. Ford would not say how much it cost.
It was not immediately scheduled to air in Ohio because of concerns over equal access, meaning TV stations would have to offer equivalent time to other candidates.