Joe the Plumber running for Congress, possibly against Dennis Kucinich

Joe the Plumber, real name Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, became famous during the 2008 presidential campaign when he asked now-President Barack Obama, "I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year. Your new tax plan's going to tax me more, isn't it?"

Now Joe the Plumber is throwing his hat in the political ring. He filed papers Friday (Oct. 7) to run as a Republican in Ohio's Ninth Congressional District. This seat will sort of be former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich's old seat - due to redistricting after the 2010 census, Kucinich's 10th Congressional District was combined with the Ninth Congressional District and now Kucinich has to run in a Democratic primary against the current Ninth District representative Marcia Kaptur. Joe the Plumber is the only Republican in the race, so far.

This new district stretches along Lake Eric from Kucinich's hometown of Cleveland to Kaptur's base in Toledo. Both Kucinich and Kaptur have served their respective districts for quite some time - Kucinich since 1997 and Kaptur since 1983. Their longtime tenure could make it hard for Joe the Plumber as the Republican candidate.

Roman Schroeder, a consultant to Wurzelbacher, says the final decision whether to run will be made on Oct. 25.

"People are looking for jobs, and there's a certain amount of desperation in this part of the country," Schroeder tells the New York Times. "Joe thinks he can do a better job and wants to know if other people feel the same way."

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