Ben Napier is best known for starring alongside his wife, Erin Napier, on the hit HGTV shows Home Town and Home Town Takeover, but his career could have looked very different had a 2013 election gone in his favor.
The reality TV couple recently appeared on Kate Bowler’s Everything Happens podcast, where Ben opened up about his political aspirations and how he ran an unsuccessful bid for a spot on the city council in Laurel, Mississippi, back in 2013. Running as an Independent, he came second behind a Democrat.
“Honestly, I thought I was going to go into politics because I was going to make a difference, but that didn’t work out,” Ben shared. “And the producer who discovered us told me, she’s like, ‘I’m so glad you lost that election ’cause we couldn’t do this (show).’”
Erin revealed that her husband’s campaign slogan was “Big Ben Means Business,” with his aim to attract more small businesses to downtown Laurel. Ben also noted that election day was on June 4th, Independence Day, and so he referred to it as “Independent’s Day,” seeing as he was running as an Independent.
“It was a little too deep for a lot of people,” Ben quipped. “English is hard.”
As for what attracted Ben to politics, Erin suggested, “I think he thought he could make it an honest thing,” to which Ben replied, “Which is very difficult.”
“I don’t know, I just liked the idea of being able to influence and make changes,” he continued, noting that his grandfather was an elected sheriff for many years. “He was heavily involved in state and local politics our entire life, and so me and my brothers would go to, like, these big political rallies and get-togethers, and it was just, you know, it was very exciting.”
Even though Ben’s political career didn’t work out, he’s been able to make a difference thanks to the success of Home Town. Over the past few years, the Napiers have helped restore many of Laurel’s abandoned buildings and bring new businesses downtown, including their own companies, such as Laurel Mercantile Co., The Scent Library, and Scotsman USA.
“My aim was to bring in small businesses to downtown Laurel… and now we’ve done it, without me being in office,” Ben stated, with Erin adding, “Which is much, much better.”
As for whether Ben would ever consider running for office again, he previously told CBS Sunday Morning he had no desire to get back into politics. Appearing on the show in 2021, the woodworker said, “I will absolutely never run for office again.”
“You’d better never run for office again,” Erin added, quipping, “Though I did design some very good-looking marketing materials.”
Home Town Takeover, Sundays, 8/7c, HGTV