Before Ben Napier skyrocketed to fame on the HGTV show “Home Town” with his wife Erin Napier, he had big dreams of becoming a politician.
On June 3, 2025, the famous woodworker told Kate Bowler on her “Everything Happens” podcast that his path may have looked very different had he not lost in his first attempt at running for the city council in Laurel, Mississippi. But would he consider running for office again?
Ben Napier’s Campaign Slogan Was ‘Big Ben Means Business’
Erin and Ben Napier never imagined becoming TV stars when they settled down in her hometown of Laurel after college. As the son of two preachers, Ben initially went into youth ministry, he told Bowler on her podcast, and Erin started a stationery company while hoping to one day be a magazine designer.
“Honestly, I thought I was going to go into politics,” Ben told Bowler, “because I was going to make a difference, but that didn’t work out. 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 interjected that her husband’s campaign slogan had been “Big Ben Means Business” because he hoped to attract more small businesses into downtown Laurel. Election Day was scheduled for June 4th that year, the couple told Bowler, which they cleverly called “Independent’s Day” rather than “Independence Day” because he was running as an Independent.
“It was a little too deep for a lot of people,” Ben joked. “English is hard.”
Ben would have followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was an elected sheriff for many years, he said, recalling, “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.”
In 2021, Ben told “CBS Sunday Morning” that if he’d won the election, “I would have poured myself into that, into being, you know, a representative.”
Ben Napier Says He’s Accomplished More Through ‘Home Town’ Than He Could Have as a Politician
Talking to Bowler, Erin noted that Ben ran for office hoping he could make politics “an honest thing,” which he admitted “is very difficult.”
Trying to describe his decision to run for office, Ben said, “I don’t know, I just liked the idea of being able influence … and make changes.”
“You’re good at making relationships and your goal was to get more business in downtown Laurel,” Erin interjected.
“I wanted to bring in more small businesses there, and now we’ve done it without me being in office,” Ben said, and Erin added, “which is much, much better.”
Laurel was full of abandoned buildings in the 1990s, according to Southern Living magazine, but the Napiers saw its potential to be something more.
Through a collaboration called Laurel Main Street that they started with a group of college friends, and then the success of their show, the Napiers have helped to build up Laurel into a bustling community. They’ve also opened their own small businesses downtown, including the Laurel Mercantile Co., The Scent Library, and a woodworking outfit called Scotsman USA.
Ben told CBS Sunday Mornings that he sees that his path as a TV show star and entrepreneur has allowed him “to accomplish so much more” than he probably could have as a politician, “not just in Laurel, but across America.”
He also told the show, “I will absolutely never run for office again,” and Erin laughed, “You’d better never run for office again. Though I did design some very good-looking marketing materials!”
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HGTV’s Ben Napier Opens Up About His Political Aspirations: Will He Run for Office Again?