'Jeopardy!' Champ Frank Spangenberg Running For City Council

DOUGLASTON, QUEENS — Frank Spangenberg, a Douglaston police officer who made history in the 1990s competing on the TV game show "Jeopardy!", filed to run for City Council in Northeast Queens, records show.

Spangenberg skyrocketed to fame in 1990, after he set the quiz show's all-time record for one-week winnings, according to news reports. At the time, "Jeopardy!" contestants could compete for no more than five days.

"Of all the contestants we've had on 'Jeopardy,' Frank is the one I am asked about most often," former host Alex Trebek, who died last year, told the New York Times in 1998.

Now, Spangenberg is running for election in the 19th City Council district, which covers the horizontal stripe of Northeast Queens from College Point to Douglaston, campaign filings show.

The district's current officeholder, City Council Member Paul Vallone, is term-limited.

Patch has reached out to Spangenberg for comment.

Spangenberg first competed on the beloved quiz show in January 1990, when he won a record haul of $102,597 over five days, and his distinctive mustache made him a recognizable figure in his Northeast Queens neighborhood.

He went back on the show in 1993 for a tournament of former champions and won another $41,800.

City payroll records indicate that Spangenberg was a lieutenant with the NYPD. He retired after 34 years in July last year.