COLUMBUS, Ohio— David Krikorian, a candidate for Ohio’s second district House seat in 2010, stands by his claim that current Congresswoman Jean Schmidt denies the genocide of 1.5 million Christians in Armenia despite Schmidt’s attempts to intimidate him with an Ohio Elections Commission (OEC) complaint.
“I stand by everything my campaign did during the 2008 election, but this frivolous complaint isn’t about the 2008 election. It’s about the 2010 election,” he said. “She’s so threatened that she has to start campaigning against me 18 months in advance,” said Krikorian this week after the OEC voted to bring the case to a full committee hearing in the summer.
Krikorian announced his campaign against Schmidt as a Democrat for 2010 just three weeks ago. In 2008, he had run against her as an Independent, receiving the highest percentage of votes for an Independent candidate in any House race that year. Schmidt received the lowest percentage of votes of any Representative in Congress in 2008.
Schmidt filed the complaint regarding a flier Krikorian had circulated during the 2008 campaign, which stated: “Representative Jean Schmidt has taken $30,000 in blood money to deny the genocide of Christian Armenians by Muslim Turks.”
Krikorian’s flier referenced Schmidt’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide—as she leads the U.S. Congress in donations from Turkish-interest lobbyists, the Turkish American Heritage PAC and the Turkish Coalition USA-PAC.
There’s neither a significant Turkish constituency in her district to justify the donations, nor a significant Armenian constituency to protest her position and acceptance of PAC money.
“It’s easy money for Congresswoman Schmidt,” said Krikorian. “But, it’s morally reprehensible.”
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland recognized the Armenian Genocide in 2007. Krikorian’s own grandparents escaped the Armenian Genocide before emigrating to the United States.
“The 2010 Krikorian campaign to replace Schmidt will be about fiscal responsibility that strengthens the dollar, and moral clarity and courage,” said Krikorian. “Congresswoman Schmidt claims she doesn’t have the information to call the slaughter of 1.5 million Christians in Armenia genocide. There’s no excuse for her to remain willfully ignorant when the information is readily available. I call on her to join with the 121 other Representatives to co-sponsor House Resolution 252 to recognize the genocide. If she chooses to remain ignorant of the genocide in order to deny it, we have to ask whether she has the moral courage and clarity to represent the second district.”
Be the first to comment