Every time I try to get out they drag me back in

The 20-year-old father of the grandson of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate in the 2008 US election, will run for mayor in his hometown as part of a reality TV show, his manager, Tank Jones, said.

Wasilla, population 10,250, is where Mrs Palin, who is widely touted as a potential candidate for the Republican presidential ticket in 2012, got her start in politics, moving up from city council to mayor before winning election as Alaska's governor in 2006.


Mr Jones said Mr Johnston, whose career thus far has included stints in the Alaskan oil fields and posing nude in Playgirl, is serious about politics.

"Let me put it to you like this: If you live in a town and things are happening in that town, and you're displeased with it, what do you do? You try to change those things," Mr Jones said.

He declined to give specifics on the changes planned by Mr Johnston, a high school dropout who was introduced to the American public as a bewildered 18-year-old at the Republican convention two years ago, when Mrs Palin made a dazzling entrance on to the political stage.

Bristol Palin, 19, broke off her second engagement with Mr Johnston earlier this month, claiming he was obsessed with the limelight.

Asked whether he believed people would take Mr Johnston's run for office seriously, Mr Jones said: "People questioned Jesus Christ, so I definitely don't care about these mere mortals questioning Levi Johnston."