Stuart (Stu) Watson Epperson (November 2, 1936 – July 17, 2023) was an American businessman, politician and evangelical who was the co-founder and chairman of Salem Media Group, and a member and the president of the conservative Council for National Policy ("CNP").
[4][7] The radio station had a small staff and was run out of a shanty rented for $95 a month from a widowed woman named Erline Tate.
[4] Epperson's radio station in Winston-Salem ran afoul of the government in 1970 when the US Labor Department fined him for insufficiently paying his employees overtime.
The Federal Communications Commission also fined Epperson the maximum amount of money for not keeping proper business records.
[4] In both races, Epperson was defeated by the incumbent Democrat, Stephen L. Neal, falling short 5,000 and 13,000 votes respectively.
[9] His wife, Nancy, is on the Board of international Christian broadcaster Trans World Radio (TWR).