David Krikorian (born November 19, 1968) is an American businessman and former candidate for

Ohio's 2nd congressional district Ohio's 2nd congressional district is a district in southern Ohio. It is currently represented by Republican Brad Wenstrup. The district includes all of Adams, Brown, Pike, Clermont, Highland, Clinton, Ross, Pickaway, Hocking, Vinton, ...

running as both an Independent and a Democratic candidate in several races.

Personal life

David Krikorian was born and raised in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. He is married to Elena Krikorian and they have three children. Krikorian holds a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

and finance from

Bentley University Bentley University is a private university focused on business, accountancy, and finance and located in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1917 as a school of accounting and finance in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, Bentley moved to Waltham ...

and an

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...

from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

. He is the founder and managing partner of Parody Productions LLC located in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, OH, which produces playing cards and jigsaw puzzles. Krikorian is also the founder of Fabricon3D, which provides 3D printing services and founde
Nashville Hot
a Nashville style hot chicken restaurant in 2015 located in Crescent Springs, Kentucky. Previous employers include

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is o ...

Deloitte & Touche Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

Cincinnati Bell Cincinnati Bell, doing business as Altafiber (typeset as altafiber), is a regional telecommunications service provider based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It provides landline telephone, fiber-optic Internet, and IPTV services through ...

an
Tom & Chee
Krikorian's grandparents (maternal & paternal) are survivors of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

. Krikorian is a member of the

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Independent candidacy

Krikorian ran as an Independent candidate for

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and came in third behind Republican incumbent Representative

Jean Schmidt Jeannette Mary Schmidt (née Hoffman; born November 29, 1951) is an American politician who is a state representative in Ohio's 65th district. She was a U.S. Representative for , serving from 2005 to 2013. She is a member of the Republican Part ...

and Democratic challenger

Victoria Wulsin Victoria Elizabeth Wells Wulsin (born October 27, 1953) is an American physician and political candidate who specializes in epidemiology, and AIDS research among women in Africa. She has also been involved in politics, and in 2006 and 2008 ran as ...

, 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 Krikorian announced that he would seek the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nomination for the Second District in 2010. He was narrowly defeated by marketing executive Surya Yalamanchili after Republican Congresswoman Jean Schmidt made false allegations about Krikorian. Rep. Schmidt won an easy re-election in the 2010 general election against Yalamanchili.

Controversies

Civil lawsuit

In June 2010,

sued Krikorian in Ohio civil court for a total of $6.8 million in perceived damages to her image. The lawsuit was unsuccessful. 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 The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

Ethics Committee. She was accused of accepting free legal services from Turkish-American interest groups pertaining to her lawsuits against Krikorian.

Case history

*The House of Representatives Ethics Committee ruled in early August 2011 that Schmidt had accepted funds and assistance from the Turkish Coalition of America for her lawsuits against Krikorian. As part of the House Ruling Schmidt was ordered to pay back over $500,000 in impermissible gifts to the Turkish Coalition of America a 501(c)(3) . Ethics complaints filed by Krikorian against Schmidt about illegal third party funding for the lawsuits resulted in his vindication. *Schmidt's attorneys from 2008 to 2012 represented the

Turkish Coalition of America The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) is the main Turkish lobby organization in the United States. Its stated purpose includes education and congressional advocacy. It is based in Washington, D.C., with an office in Boston, Massachusetts. A 50 ...

(TCA), which 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 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.Cincinnati Enquirer: Rep. Jean Schmidt did not 'knowingly' break law, ethics committee says
/ref>

Olbermann and Yalamanchili

Krikorian allegedly made negative remarks about Surya Yalamanchili's name during the 2009 Congressional race, resulting in a rebuttal from Hamilton and Clermont County Democratic Chairmen Timothy M. Burke and David Lane, respectively. Subsequently,

Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and r ...

named Krikorian a "Worst Person in the World" on his MSNBC show, and Krikorian implied that since the show had run an

Oil of Olay Olay, previously Oil of Olay, Oil of Olaz, Oil of Ulan or Oil of Ulay, is an American skin care brand owned by Procter & Gamble. For the 2009 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, Olay accounted for an estimated $2.8 billion of P&G's revenue. Ear ...

advertisement,

Procter and Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

were attempting to advance their former employee. Olbermann denied knowledge of what ads were being run on the show and stated that they had since checked the lineup and no Procter and Gamble ads had been run, although an online viewer informed him that Oil of Olay ads had been run prior to the online version of the episode.

2012 Congressional campaign

The

Ohio Democratic Party The Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Ohio. Summit County Council President Elizabeth Walters has been the party's chairwoman since January 2021. U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown is the top Oh ...

and affiliates across southern

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

began circulating literature for 2012 candidates as early as 2011. Krikorian launched a third candidacy for United States Congress. On March 6, 2012, he narrowly lost the Democratic primary to relative unknown William SmithPreliminary Ohio 2012 primary results
/ref> at the same time Schmidt lost the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

primary to Brad Wenstrup. Multiple robo-calls were made on behalf of candidate Smith through a super PAC called Victory Ohio. Krikorian believes this contributed to his loss in the 2012 primary.