'Joe the Plumber' files papers to run for Congress

"Joe the Plumber," who gained prominence during the 2008 presidential campaign, has filed papers to run for Congress in Ohio.

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher submitted a statement of candidacy for Ohio's 9th Congressional District -- a seat heavily changed in redistricting that will pit Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Marcy Kaptur in a primary. Wurzelbacher filed to run as a Republican.

Wurzelbacher, then an employee of a plumbing contractor, talked to Barack Obama as the candidate met with residents in his Holland, Ohio, neighborhood. Wurzelbacher suggested that Obama's tax plan would result in higher taxes for him.

Republican nominee Sen. John McCain seized on that exchange and repeatedly referred to the man he dubbed "Joe the Plumber" in his final debate against Obama.

The Arizona senator held up Wurzelbacher as a symbol for what could happen to the middle class if the Democrat got into the White House. It led to intense scrutiny of Wurzelbacher, who did not have a plumber's license and who later said McCain "screwed my life up."