CLEVELAND (March 19) Weds. - - Dennis J. Kucinich, who served the greater Cleveland area for 16 years in the United States House of Representatives, filed petitions yesterday afternoon at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, to gain a place on the November ballot in the 7^th Congressional District, which includes Cleveland-area suburbs in Cuyahoga County, all of Medina and Wayne County and northern Holmes County.  Kucinich is running as an independent, without a party label.  If elected he may well become the only independent elected to a closely divided, hyper-partisan Congress.   Kucinich’s statement upon filing follows:

              Statement of Dennis J. Kucinich upon Filing for Congress as an Independent

In this moment of sharp partisan divisions in our country, which endanger America domestically and abroad, I recognize the urgency of uniting America, of placing country above party, of pledging allegiance to America and to no other nation, to upholding our Constitution to protect our freedoms.  I invite you, no matter your political persuasion to join this campaign.

Therefore I am thrilled to announce I have filed petitions to officially become a candidate for Congress in the 7^th District of Ohio.  I want to thank the more than 6,000 voters, Democrats, Republicans and independents alike, people from across the political and religious spectrum, who signed to get me on the ballot, as well as those who circulated petitions through freezing weather, through snow, through rain, and through flu season to make this moment possible.

I have found in speaking with the people of the 7^th Congressional District that we are in alignment with each other.  The people have made it clear they are seeking a representative who places country above party, whose allegiance is to America and no other nation.

In this campaign, I will focus, as I always have, on the economic needs of  Americans, and the challenges so many families face today: Inflation driving up the cost of food, housing, health care, energy, utilities, and education, while the cost of credit rises and more and more Americans are going into debt.

Our first job as a nation must be to protect our economic freedom here at home and not spend the treasure of our nation abroad in search of dragons to slay, not risking our future with an unsustainable national debt, where we put unnecessary wars and Wall Street bailouts on the national credit card.

This election is about supporting the economic interests of the job creators, of Ohio businesses small and large, farmers, and all who struggling to make it in this economy to hold onto everything they have worked for in a lifetime. It is about standing resolutely for the rights of workers to organize, for collective bargaining, the right to decent wages and benefits so workers can support their families.

This election is about rebuilding our strategic industrial base, our steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping industries. It is about investing in America and not sending money abroad for wars and for foreign military aid.

This election is about freedom.  The voters I have spoken to are deeply concerned that we are losing our constitutional rights to free speech, to privacy, to unreasonable search and seizure, to a federal government which has, under both political parties, placed corporate interests about the U.S. Constitution and our sacred rights.   At this very moment, in current negotiations, our government is poised to give away our Constitutional freedoms and U.S. sovereignty to the World Health Organization, just as it did to the WTO where critical decisions are made in foreign capitals affecting United States’ businesses, our jobs, our health and safety standards, without a vote of the people, or their elected representatives.

Guided by the U.S. Constitution, my leadership has always been rational, aspirational and practical.  

Today I begin again to create a basis for a re-United States, transcending labels and partisan politics  to play a unique role in the next Congress to help both Democratic and  Republican colleagues  to work together for the best interests of the American people, to help our nation to be able to communicate with itself at home and with other nations through diplomacy, the science of human relations, where we see each other as potential friends and allies, not as intractable enemies.

I will bring to Congress the enthusiasm and the energy of youth together with the wisdom of experience.  For years I have been told that I am ahead of my time.  Today I am on time.  As a member of Congress, I will work to create policies through building coalitions across the political spectrum, to uphold the Constitution, protect and defend our rights and freedoms, to create policies which enable prosperity for all Americans, not just a few, to ensure that we have secure borders and a sane immigration policy; that we stand for responsible fiscal stewardship, reduce government waste, fraud and abuse, and help America, once again, to be a leader for peace and humanity in the world, rather than a nation that chooses to prosecute war everywhere. 

I have been tested in a way that few in public office have been tested.  Years ago, as Mayor of Cleveland, I took over a deficit-ridden city and ran it on a cash basis, while cutting spending by at least 12% without reducing basic services.  I took on a corrupt utility monopoly, their banking partners and supporters in the media and even risked assassination to stand up for the right of the people of Cleveland to have an electric system they could call their own.

Although I attempted to pay off the debts I had inherited, the banks refused to take the money and instead demanded the sale of the city’s electric system as a condition of credit.  I refused the blackmail. The banks put the city into default.  I was smeared for challenging a corrupt establishment, and I learned never to be afraid because truth, though crushed to the ground, will rise again. 

Cleveland’s municipal electric system endures to this very day.  My leadership has been acknowledged to have saved the people of Cleveland hundreds of millions of dollars on their utility bills and saved taxpayers countless millions.  That is what public service is all about.

Throughout my career, I have not hesitated to stand up for the people.  I am a builder of bridges, a warrior for peace, a fighter for the people, unbossed and unbought. 

At this critical time in our nation’s history, I urge everyone, to look beyond the chaos of the moment, the partisan divisions, and to look to a brighter future for our country where there are not winners and losers, where we, once again, find the source of our unity, where we are truly free and independent as a nation. 

We must retain our faith in the highest principles of the United States, in liberty and justice and in our Constitution, and work to once again put them into action.    This starts with electing a representative who will stand courageously for truth, justice and the Constitution.  Let’s win this for the 7^th District, for Ohio and for America.  Please sign up at Kucinich.com to take back our country.

Thank you.   --   Dennis J. Kucinich.