Rep. Traficant Joins Presidential Race
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WASHINGTON — Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. (D-Ohio) has entered the race for his party’s presidential nomination.
Traficant, in his second term in the House, had announced his intention to run for President last month. He filed candidacy papers Friday with the Federal Election Commission.
“We’re going after the top job, and we think we can win it,” said his campaign manager, Don Gosney.
The 46-year-old congressman from Youngstown defeated Republican incumbent Lyle Williams to be elected to the House in 1984, one year after he was acquitted of charges that he took money from reputed mobsters during his campaign for Mahoning County sheriff in 1980.
He is still fighting an Internal Revenue Service collection effort in connection with that case. A recent IRS ruling resulted in calculations that he owes the government about $90,000 in back taxes and penalties.
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