Chad Hasty, West Texas conservative talk show host, dies unexpectedly
By Jess Huff, The Texas Tribune
April 30, 2026
Longtime West Texas conservative radio talk show host Chad Hasty died in his sleep Thursday morning. He was 43 years old.
Hasty was host of The Chad Hasty Show on News/Talk 95.1 and 790 KFYO. His show was known for its political commentary, lively debates and prominent political guests. Sid Miller, Texas Agriculture Commissioner, once broke the news in 2016 that he would be joining Trump’s team on Hasty’s show, even though Trump ultimately picked Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be his U.S. agriculture secretary.
Hasty also was an occasional guest on The Texas Tribune’s Trib Cast, most recently in October 2025 to discuss the 2026 Senate race.
Friends say he entered the radio world in his early 20s and spent the next 20 years building a radio program. In his tenure, he conducted interviews with top Texas officials, such as Speaker of the Texas House Dustin Burrows, as well as local city and county government officials.
“His work mattered,” said Ryan Hyatt, Hasty’s longtime friend and host of Lubbock sports digital sports news, Raiderland. “He had a voice that resounded around the state of Texas.”
Hasty’s show caught the attention of David Bruegel, the Lubbock GOP Chairman, in the early 2000s, Bruegel said. As a longtime follower of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, Bruegel was delighted to hear a younger voice joining the fray. Bruegel said he liked the way Hasty tackled tough issues and the way he addressed politics.
Hasty was an especially outspoken advocate for participation in local elections. He spoke with Bruegel last week to talk about his run for District 3 on the Lubbock City Council. Hasty’s push for local election coverage didn’t always win him the most viewers, but he prioritized it anyway because he felt it was important.
“He always spoke with confidence,” Bruegel said. “Sometimes he was willing to even buck our own party leadership on things and be open minded. … Even when we disagreed with him, he was still respectful.”
It was in radio that he met and worked closely with Ken Corbin, a senior marketing specialist for Townsquare Media, which owns KFYO, who often joined Hasty on his political programs and who became a close friend. Corbin recalled the tough decision to cut Hasty’s two daily radio programs to one, a plan that Hasty wasn’t the biggest fan of, Corbin said. Hasty worried he was doing a disservice to his listeners. But the move ultimately gave him more time to perfect his afternoon show and wound up being the right choice, Corbin said.
Hasty’s work in radio, while recognized statewide, was just one piece of the man, Hyatt said. Hyatt described him as a devout Christian, a family man and a big sports fan. Major League Baseball, especially, was a hilarious sticking point for Hyatt, who runs an online sports publication. Hasty’s favorite team was whichever one was winning.
“He’s the only guy I know who had 15 favorite baseball teams, which made it great, because at any given moment his favorite team was winning,” Hyatt said.
In addition to baseball hats, Hasty had a proclivity for Stetson Open Road hats and premium cigars. And anywhere he traveled, he likely had a restaurant picked out for that night’s dinner.
In the last few years, Hasty and his wife, Jennifer, decided they wanted a family and that they wanted to build it through fostering and adoption. This experience turned Hasty into a budding advocate for foster care in Texas, Bruegel said. They were foster parents to a 1-year-old girl when Hasty passed.
“I hated to see that cut short,” Hyatt said.
His death was shocking, Bruegel said. Friends say he and his wife lived on a family farmstead north of Lubbock and were just getting involved in raising chickens.
For those who want to raise a toast, Hyatt said to order nachos this weekend “Chad’s Way,” with only beef and cheese.
“If you bring out anything else beyond beef and cheese on the nachos, he will send it back,” Hyatt said. “No sour cream, no pico de gallo, no lettuce, no tomato. Nothing but beef and cheese. You want to understand a man’s abiding love for his nachos, then you order nachos Chad’s way.”
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.