Joe the Plumber files for House run

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, better known to most Americans as Joe the Plumber, has taken concrete steps toward running for the House in Ohio.

Wurzelbacher filed candidacy papers with the Federal Election Commission on Friday, and also registered a campaign committee under the name “Joe for Congress 2012.”

{mosads}He listed himself as the committee’s treasurer.

“Joe the Plumber” became a household name during the 2008 presidential campaign when Wurzelbacher questioned then-Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) small-business plan during a campaign stop in Ohio.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and running mate Sarah Palin, then governor of Alaska, quickly seized on Wurzelbacher as a symbol of the blue-collar America they said would suffer under Democratic policies, and dubbed him “Joe the Plumber.” It later came out that he is not actually a licensed plumber.

In the years since, Wurzelbacher has capitalized on his newfound notoriety as a motivational speaker and author.

Wurzelbacher’s FEC filings indicate he would run as a Republican in Ohio’s 9th district, which was heavily rejiggered during a redistricting process in which Ohio lost two House seats due to slow population growth. The Democratic-leaning district runs from Cleveland to Toledo.

The race will be just as interesting on the Democratic side, where Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich are headed toward a bitter incumbent-versus-incumbent primary.