David Krikorian

David Krikorian

David Krikorian is an American publisher, father of three children, and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Ohio's 2nd congressional district.

Early life and education

David Krikorian was born 23 May, 1964 in Waltham, Massachusetts. Krikorian and his family are members of an Eastern Orthodox Christian church.

Krikorian received a bachelor's degree in economics and finance from Bentley College and a master's in business administration from the University of Cincinnati. He is the chief executive officer of Krikorian Publishing, a publishing house based in Cincinnati.

Independent candidacy

Independent to the politics of southern Ohio, Krikorian ran as a non-partisan candidate for United States Congress in 2008 and came in third behind Republican incumbent Schmidt and Democratic challenger Victoria Wulsin, receiving 17.71 percent of the vote after endorsements from the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police, the Ohio Libertarian Party, and the Georgetown News Democrat.

Entrance to the Democratic Party

In 2009, with the urging of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Krikorian announced that he would seek the Democratic Party nomination for the Second District in 2010. He was defeated by marketing executive Surya Yalamanchili by the narrowest margin of voting cast in a Democratic primary for U.S. Congress in southern Ohio.

Following his defeat, Jean Schmidt and Catholic interest groups supporting her candidacy filed five complaints against Krikorian with the Ohio elections commission alleging racial slurs. The commission decided that three of these complaints were substantial.^{[citation needed]}. The Republican dominated commission ruled Krikorian made false statements about $30,000 in contributions U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt took from Turkish political action committees. In October 2010, a federal court rejected David Krikorian's appeal.^{[citation needed]}

Civil lawsuit

In June 2010, Jean Schmidt sued David Krikorian in Ohio civil court for a total of $6.8 million in damages to her perceived image.

On July 1, 2011, Krikorian's complaints to the OCE pertaining to Schmidt were elevated to full probation by the United States House of Representatives Ethics Committee. Schmidt was accused of accepting free legal services from Turkish-American interest groups pertaining to her lawsuits against Krikorian.

Case history

• The Republican controlled House of Representatives Ethics Committee ruled in early August 2011 that Schmidt had unknowingly accepted funds and assistance from the Turkish Coalition of America for her lawsuits against Krikorian. Schmidt was held responsible for all of her $500,000 legal costs against Krikorian. Ethics complaints filed by Krikorian against Schmidt about illegal third party funding for the lawsuits resulted in his vindication. The HEC warned Schmidt that she could not profit from her lawsuits against Krikorian if the Federal Courts later rule in her favor.

• Schmidt's attorneys from 2008 to 2010 are alleged to have had prior business contracts representing the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), which later paid the full $500,000 legal fees to these attorneys for legal costs and actions that benefited Schmidt.

• Prior to the HEC final decision in August 2011, Schmidt provided legal documentation that she was unaware the TCA group may possibly be affiliated with the Turkish government. Schmidt said she did not know TCA had paid her legal bills against Krikorian for almost 2 years, despite she or her Congressional staff meeting with and talking by telephone to these TCA attorneys on a regular basis about the lawsuits against Krikorian. Schmidt then claimed to the HEC that she could not be held legally responsible for the unknown actions of her TCA attorneys. The HEC declared that Schmidt is accountable for paying the full $500,000 in legal fees as an unpaid debt and she should return any and all TCA funds. However, the HEC agreed not to reprimand Schmidt for her not knowing who had paid her $500,000 legal costs for almost 2 years and said her $6.8 million lawsuit against Krikorian should be decided by the Federal courts.

Congressional campaign, 2012

Reiterating itself as a united organization, the Ohio Democratic Party and affiliates across southern Ohio began circulating literature for 2012 candidates as early as 2011.

With the height of Republican influence at the state and congressional levels, Krikorian and his family launched a third candidacy for United States Congress. On March 6, 2012, Krikorian narrowly lost the Democratic primary to relative unknown William Smith at the same time Schmidt lost the Republican primary to Brad Wenstrup.