The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Resident launches congressional campaign
Avon resident Ken Harbaugh officially launched his campaign to challenge sitting U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, on June 1.
“Our movement begins today. I’m humbled and inspired to be running to represent the Ohio 7th. I’m all in. Are you?” Harbaugh, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter.
“I’m running for Congress because folks in Ohio need someone who will put them first. I’ve spent my life in service to this country. I grew up in a military family, flew recon missions as a Navy pilot and deployed as a medic to disaster zones.”
Harbaugh grew up in a military family and after receiving an undergraduate degree from Duke University he served in the U.S. Navy for nine years where he flew reconnaissance missions in North Korea and the Middle East.
He has a law degree from Yale University and has served as president and chief operating officer of Los Angeles-based Team Rubicon Global, a company which trains and deploys military veterans to respond to humanitarian emergencies around the globe, according to a media release.
“Politics as usual is not working. Bob Gibbs wants to gut funding for health care while Ohio is in the middle of an opioid epidemic. He has repeatedly voted to increase medical bills for seniors while folks here in Ohio are struggling to make ends meet.”
Harbaugh accused Gibbs of putting his party before country and believes his military and business background will resonate with voters. Harbaugh’s wife Annmarie, who also serves as his communications director, grew up in Medina County.
“When I was 22 years old I took an oath to defend the constitution. What we have now is a representative who puts party first,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh added in an interview that Gibbs’ decision to vote in favor of the American Healthcare Act, which will cut services for drug rehabilitation and threaten rural hospitals, shows a lack of heart and noted the 800 opioid overdose deaths on Gibbs’ watch.
He recalled the experience of his family and his daughter who required four surgeries before the age of 4 after being born with a pre-existing condition and called the decisions which people in Ohio and around the country have to make heartbreaking.
Harbaugh will spend the next week travelling across the district where he will serve meals in a homeless shelter, help clean up public parks and ride along with police officers in more than two dozen events, according to the release.
“People often talk about the vision and the cynicism in American politics today. I’m not seeing that, I’m really not. The last few weeks of traveling around the district has made me as proud of my country as I’ve ever been,” Harbaugh said during a day of events which included touring a dairy farm followed by a night ride along with officers of the Stark County Sheriff’s Office.
In 2016, Bob Gibbs easily won re-election eclipsing his opponent by 35 percentage points in a district Donald Trump carried by 30 points in the 2016 Presidential Election. Harbaugh is hoping to flip the district back into the hands of the Democratic Party and using his campaign to engage with as people in the district as possible.
“Most of my neighbors are not Republican or Democrat first. They are American first. There is a real sense of patriotism among Ohio 7th voters,” Harbaugh said.