A Clairemont man who tried to use a new HBO reality show to propel him to a City Council seat this spring is instead getting national attention for his emotional confessions and bold proclamations to television audiences.
Danny Smiechowski, 72, a colorful character who has irritated many of his neighbors by working out in his Bay Ho driveway wearing only a yellow thong, is featured in a recent episode of “Neighbors” — a show focused on ordinary Americans fighting with people who live nearby.
“I’m healthier than 1,000 Spanish bulls,” he boasts on the show. But he also confesses to emotional turmoil. “You don’t know the trauma I’ve gone through with people treating me horribly,” he says at one point. He also says he’s lonely and looks unsuccessfully for love, saying sadly that women “think I’m weird, they think I’m strange.”
While the show typically focuses on neighborly disputes over things like property lines, Smiechowski sprinkled in some local politics — with the blessing of HBO execs — by mentioning his campaign for council District 2.
The only problem with that plan is Smiechowski was disqualified from the ballot early last month due to a technicality: He didn’t properly sign the nomination papers he submitted to the city clerk’s office.
Smiechowski, who has run for local office in San Diego a number of times unsuccessfully as far back as the 1990s, would have been an extreme longshot even if he had qualified.
He ran for mayor in 2024 and earned around 4% of the vote in the primary. He ended with a similar share of the vote when he ran for District 2 in 2022, and less than 3% when he sought the seat in 2018.
But Smiechowski contended in a phone interview this week that the qualities he displayed during the HBO show would have helped convince thousands of voters that he was the best candidate.
“I know I would have pulled off one of the greatest political miracles in American history,” he said, in his typical over-the-top style.
The timing of the show certainly would have been ideal: His episode premiered March 22, just a few weeks before voters will receive their ballots for the June 2 primary.
Smiechowski never solicits campaign donations when he runs for office, so he can’t pay for mailers and other campaign efforts — instead going door-to-door and hoping to build a groundswell of support that way.
But this week he conceded that method is unlikely to succeed.
“If I had money, everybody knows I’d be elected,” he said.
Danny Smiechowski exercises in front of his home in Bay Ho on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Sandy Huffaker for The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Just before he was disqualified, Smiechowski showed up at a candidate forum dressed as a mime in black-and-white facial paint, and he left before the other candidates started answering questions.
Smiechowski said this week he chose that approach because he was frustrated by how few people had visited his website to read about his policy positions.
“These people are so dumb, they wouldn’t even read what I wrote,” he said, referring to the voters of District 2, which includes Clairemont, Point Loma, Mission Beach and Ocean Beach.
While disappointed about being disqualified from the election, Smiechowski said he’s ecstatic about the reaction he’s gotten to his presence on TV.
His page on OnlyFans, a subscription-based digital platform popular for adult content, is getting more attention, he said this week. He’s getting emails of support from across the nation, and multiple women want to visit his home, he added.
“You have no idea how deep across America this has gone,” he said. “I haven’t slept in a week.”
Since his episode aired, he estimates that for every one of his critics, at least 100 people have expressed support.
“I’m in tears because I’m overwhelmed with humility and joy,” he said. “The nation has spoken. One or two people complained about me, and the people that support me ganged up on them like an army.”
Asked about the frequent complaints from his neighbors about his thong-clad workouts in his driveway, Smiechowski said his decision not to wear more clothes is about moral courage.
He said it’s wrong for society to shame people for showing their bodies.
“I would never succumb to a society run amok,” he said. “Most of San Diego calls me a crank, but they don’t know my heart, my character — they don’t even know me.”
Born in Milwaukee, Smiechowski and his family moved to San Diego in 1967. He says his mother died in 1978 and his father died in 2005, leaving him the house he owns in the western Clairemont neighborhood of Bay Ho.
He declined to say what HBO paid him to do the show, which involved a TV crew following his daily activities for about two months. He moved to a nudist colony in Florida during the show, then came back to San Diego.
Smiechowski said he’s hopeful HBO might feature him again. But either way, he has no plans to give up on local politics.
“I’ll be back in four years,” he said.
Danny Smiechowski exercises in front of his home in Bay Ho on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Sandy Huffaker for The San Diego Union-Tribune)