The first Occupy candidate: Nate Kleinman
Nathan Kleinman, a 29-year-old member of the Occupy Philadelphia movement, intends to run for congress in Pennsylvania's 13th district against Democratic incumbent Allyson Schwartz.
"The petition gathering period starts today and lasts for three weeks, so I plan to file by then," Kleinman told me over the phone today. "I'll be running in the Democratic primary."
Kleinman, who refers to himself as a human rights activist and organizer, served as an aide to Joe Sestak's unsuccessful 2010 Senate campaign before becoming a legislative assistant to Pennsylvania State Representative Josh Shapiro.
More recently, he has been a member of the Occupy Philadelphia movement, participating in a number of associated working groups, including "Free University," "Outreach Working Group," "Process Working Group," "Camp Liberty," and "The Committee of Correspondence," through which he became involved with InterOccupy.org, which he describes as "a central hub for communications" in the national Occupy movement.
Now, he plans to campaign for the House of Representatives, which would make him the first member of the Occupy movement to seek a seat in Congress.
"After a GREAT meeting tonight in Jenkintown, I'm excited to say: I'm running for Congress!!" Kleinman wrote on his Facebook page last night. He later joined Facebook's "Occupy US Congress" group.
Kleinman told me that he intends to run on his own, autonomous platform, but will "stay involved in the Occupy movement" during the campaign.
A spokesperson in Representative Schwartz's office told me that she knew "a little" about Kleinman, but did not elaborate. A spokesperson with the Pennsylvania state election office confirmed that filing petitions for 2012 went out today, and said that an applicant must obtain 1,000 signatures to qualify.
"You need 1,000 signatures and a hundred dollars," Kleinman explained. "It's a pretty low bar."
Read more about: Nathan Kleinman, Occupy Candidate
