'Joe The Plumber' To Run For Congress

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, more commonly known as "Joe The Plumber," filed a statement of candidacy to run in Ohio's Ninth District Thursday, according to the Federal Election Commission website. The Joe For Congress 2012 campaign committee also filed a statement of organization Thursday, using Wurzelbacher's home address as the committee's address. The actual scanned documents were not viewable as of Monday afternoon.

Wurzelbacher has been rumored to run for Congress. He told the Toledo Blade in August, "I think it's a very interesting idea…that's as much as I can say." The chairman of county Republican Party where Wurzelbacher resides said there was "high-level interest in the national Republican Party" for his candidacy.

Wurzelbacher was catapulted into the spotlight in October 2008 after he objected to then-candidate Barack Obama's plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire for those making $250,000 or more. Obama replied, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." The McCain/Palin campaign quickly seized on Wurzelbacher as a symbol for their argument of how Obama's policies would hurt working-class Americans.

Subsequent reporting revealed that he wasn't a licensed plumber and would likely get a tax break under Obama's plans. Wurzelbacher later said that McCain "really screwed up my life."

Incumbent Democratic Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich have been redistricted into the district encompassing the Lake Erie shoreline from Cleveland to Toledo. Cuyahoga County Republican Chair Rob Frost and technology executive Tom Guarente are also running as Republicans. But given the heavily Democratic makeup of the district, whoever wins the Democratic primary will likely be a heavy favorite in the general election.

Comments

[Maverick83702]

07:17 AM on 10/26/2011

GO FOR IT SAM!

[Kiranitisme]

06:33 AM on 10/26/2011

He will fight the Gary the Garbage Guy in the Primary!

[freddsky]

01:35 PM on 10/14/2011

I visited Joe's website where I had the exciting opportunity to donate to Joe's campaign. I had just listened to the interview where Joe seemed to say he had just moved out of the district he is filing to represent and hasn't quite made his mind up yet. I then discovered that it you use the ctrl+scroll you can make Joe move left to right and almost disappear. Overcome by excitement, I left without donating a darned dime.

[mcmutter]

04:31 AM on 10/14/2011

Sadly .... the USA today is one of the most ignorant nations on the face of the earth ..... (thanks talk radio .... thanks FOX and thanks Rush ...)

in our sad nation .... JTP might just have a chance to get elected .... I suspect he will get an avalanche of monet from rich conservatives at the last minute ....

[gypsynomad]

07:36 PM on 10/13/2011

Oh lordy lord...

[amwa]

01:41 PM on 10/13/2011

OMG.This must be the year for Repubs to pick the dumbest person around to run. I think we must be at the very bottom of the list Worldwide for education when we produce so many idiots who think they are qualified to run for anything. I am sure Sarah the quitter is promoting him.

[Dopster]

12:17 PM on 10/13/2011

Sam, you weren't qualified to be a plumber, and you're certainly not qualified to be a lawmaker. One would have thought you learned your lesson, being a tool for the GOTP! And, you will no longer be residing in the 9th Congressional District!

[balrog221]

11:06 AM on 10/13/2011

His campaign will be run against the idea that a high quaility education has any redeeming value.

[balrog221]

11:03 AM on 10/13/2011

He is just as competent as our current legislators... which is to say not at all! Still JTP is antithetical to the concept of american exceptionalism. He is also a perfect example of the need for educated elites!

[Amy Lindelof]

10:51 AM on 10/13/2011

Perhaps Joe has never heard the expression "Strike while the iron is hot." His 15 minutes was up a LOOOONG time ago.

[John Stopple]

10:23 AM on 10/13/2011

So the "Joe the Plumber" who is neither a Joe nor a plumber gets to add "not a Congressman" to his resume.

[kanook67]

02:07 AM on 10/13/2011

A Cannibal ,having a craving for some Plumber's brains for supper, goes to his local butcher store and checks out the prices of various brains and finds.....Brick Layer's brains $1.69 per pound, Electrician's brains $1.98 per pound & Plumber's brains an expensive $21.98 per pound !!

The cannibal complains bitterly to the butcher about such a high price for the Plumber's brains and demands he justify such a high price for them. The butcher replies, "Do you realize how many plumber's we have to kill to get a pound of brains?"

[SnapShots]

01:23 AM on 10/13/2011

I guess we should all respect anyone's desire to run for Congress, but that does not make them qualified and certainly not in this case, not by a long shot.

[sjpersonal]

01:09 AM on 10/13/2011

LOL!!! Nothing else need be said!

[Rafael Perez]

09:42 PM on 10/12/2011

Political future?? So being a plumber makes you a politician?? makes sense... most oft he GOTPunks' are full of s c a t.

[CVaughn]

12:51 PM on 10/13/2011

Pssst - after all was said and done - his name wasn't actually "Joe," and lo and behold, he was also not an actual licensed plumber. So, apparently, lying about everything he supposedly is, makes him qualified for politics.

For what it's worth, I would trust an actual plumber more.