Gay marriage Supreme Court plaintiff Jim Obergefell will run for state legislature in Ohio

Gay marriage plaintiff Jim Obergefell outside the U.S. Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ORG XMIT: WX806
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The lead plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case that made gay marriage legal throughout the United States has embarked on a new political crusade: He’s running for a state legislative district in his hometown of Sandusky.

Jim Obergefell announced Tuesday that he’s seeking the 89th Ohio House District seat that’s currently held by Republican D.J. Swearingen of Huron, which includes Erie and Ottawa counties. He said he’ll prioritize protecting Lake Erie, will invite the next governor to visit the North Coast, and begin forming a bipartisan Lake Erie caucus to focus on the resource on day one on the job.

“You deserve a representative who does the right thing, no matter what,” said a statement from Obergefell. “You deserve a representative who fights to make things better for everyone,” Obergefell said. “I’ve been part of a national civil rights case that made life better for millions of Americans. Simply put, I fight for what’s right and just.”

Obergefell was among a large group of plaintiffs whose petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court resulted in a 2015 decision that legalized gay marriage nationwide. His name was listed first in the court brief, so the case bore his name. A Cincinnati resident when the lawsuit was filed, Obergefell had married John Arthur in Maryland when Arthur was terminally ill. Obergefell sued the state of Ohio for failing to recognize him as Arthur’s spouse on his death certificate.

“We should all be able to participate fully in society and the economy, living in strong communities with great public schools, access to quality healthcare, and with well-paying jobs that allow us to stay in the community we love, with the family we care about,” said a statement from Obergefell.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Obergefell relocated from Cincinnati to Washington, D.C., and then to Columbus. He says he moved back to Sandusky in June to be closer to his family and decided to run for office as a continuation of his pursuit of public service and helping to make the world a better place.

If he’s elected, he said one of his main goals will be returning well-paid jobs to the district.

“I watched the good paying jobs my father and brothers worked at GM, at Scott Paper, vanish when those factories closed,” Obergefell said. “I watched my family struggle in the aftermath. I remember eating the so-called government cheese. I was just a kid, but I picked up on the fears my parents had for our family. I’ve seen family and friends leave because they had no opportunities here. No way to stay in the community they love surrounded by the people they care about. That’s heartbreaking. We can fix that.”

Obergefell declined to discuss the performance of the incumbent he’s challenging, saying he’ll discuss that later in the campaign, but said he’s been dismayed at the level of corruption in the state legislature. If elected, he plans to root out that corruption.

Although the lines of the legislative district where Obergefell is running might change after the Ohio Supreme Court decided the new Republican-drawn district lines constituted amounted to illegal partisan gerrymanders, Obergefell said he plans to stay in the race “because I need to fight for the people where I live, my family, my friends, the people I know, the people I don’t know.”

He acknowledged the area where he lives has elected Republican representatives in the recent past, but said “things change over time. This district, in the past, has had Democrats as the representative, so it can again.

“I think I’ve proven with my fight for marriage equality, that I don’t mind being an underdog, I don’t mind fighting a very big fight when it’s the right thing to do,” said Obergefell. “That’s what this decision is. It’s the right thing to do for me, it’s the right thing to do for the people I care about and for this community.”

If he’s elected, he said he plans to be a champion for the LGBTQ+ community, and also advocate on a bipartisan basis for “ever person in the state who feels marginalized.

“We all deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” he said.

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