Candidate for
United States Representative; District 2; Democratic Party

Mark A. Crummie is a candidate for the Second Congressional District of the U.S. House of Representatives in the March 2, 2004, Democratic primary election. This district includes the following Ohio counties of Adams, Brown, Clermont, and Pike and portions of Hamilton, Scioto and Warren counties. This 2004 campaign was birthed by the social forces of change resulting from the events of September 11, 2001. Mark believes that government should work for the people and that new ideas and leadership are needed to meet the challenges facing the people of the Second District.

Mark graduated from Manchester High School located in Adams County, Ohio. In 1976, he received his bachelor's degree in religion with a supporting discipline in the behavioral sciences from Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Mount Vernon, Ohio.

In 1980, he earned his master's degree in pastoral psychology and counseling from Ashland Theological Seminary, a graduate school of Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio. In 1984, Mark received a second graduate degree, a master of divinity, from Ashland Theological Seminary. He has served as a parish minister in the United Methodist Church. Currently, Mark is a university educator teaching in the Social Science Department at Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio. For the past thirteen years, he has lectured in the areas of sociology and psychology. Also, his wife, Karen, has a law degree and teaches in the Department of Business Administration at Shawnee State University. Mark believes that quality education and economic opportunity empower the people of the Second Congressional District.

Mark is concerned about the economic effects of the outsourcing of American jobs, the destabilization of investments, the rising federal deficit, and the increasing costs of healthcare. Also, the American veterans and soldiers, currently serving in Iraq and elsewhere, must have access to effective support systems: As the first family member to graduate from a university, Mark is deeply aware of the struggles and economic challenges faced by the working class. His father, a World War II veteran, worked as a general laborer for the Delco Division of the General Motors Corporation and both his grandmother and mother worked as garment workers for the Hercules Trouser Company. Mark's deep roots in the blue collar social environment connect him with the needs of the people of the Second Congressional District.

As a university educator, I have challenged my students to continue learning and seeking new solutions to old problems. Perseverance and determination provide the key ingredients for social change and a brighter future.

As a Congressional leader, I would challenge the traditional ways of problem solving by proposing new economic and social solutions that represent the needs of the people of the Second Congressional District. I will be an aggressive leader that puts people first.