Ohio Independent House Candidate Attends Fundraiser in Mass.

He noted that he worked hard to gather signatures, putting the goal for himself of obtaining 50 signatures a day for several months.

Krikorian, who originally hails from Rhode Island, spoke a bit about himself, noting that he has a business background. He currently runs and owns a company that makes novelty products, such as playing cards.

Krikorian stressed that both the Republican incumbent he is facing, Jean Schmidt, and Victoria Wulsin, a Democrat, are under fire.

“I’m tired of watching Republicans and Democrat fight with one another,” he said, leading to inaction on a variety of important issues, including immigration, housing and energy. “There’s a lack of leadership from either party.”

He stressed that while he would not ban lobbying and lobbyists, he would never take money from them. “We need to end lobbying [for pay] in our country. It is poisonous. I would let them make their pitch, but I would never accept money from them.”

Krikorian touted his conservative credentials with the recent endorsement he won from the Fraternal Order of the Police in Cincinnati.

Both he, and another guest, state Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Newton) stressed the importance of having Armenian-Americans in politics. “Armenians have been very successful in business. They have been successful in every aspect, with the exception of politics,” Krikorian said.

Krikorian said that because Ohio has such a small Armenian community, the issue of the Genocide resolution rarely comes up during the campaign.