Meet congressional hopeful Jim Trakas
Second generation Greek American Jim Trakas (R-OH 10th District) is running for Congress this coming November along with Jane Mitakides (D-OH 3rd District) and Dina Titus (D-NV 3rd District). The 10th Congressional District is in northeast Ohio and contains part of the city of Cleveland. It encompasses the western and southern portion of Cuyahoga County. In the March 4th primary election, he won the Republican primary by getting 79.31% of the vote!
"As a Greek American, I have chosen to run for Congress with the wisdom that those who invented our democracy, can help perfect it,” he stated for NEO. “It is my duty to go to Washington for the betterment of my constituents and to de-emphasize politics, and solve very real problems, many of them created by Washington. As an Orthodox Christian, I plan to govern in a moral and effective manner that will bring pride to my constituents and rich cultural heritage."
Former Ohio State Representative Jim Trakas has deep roots in Greater Cleveland’s Greek community. His maternal grandparents hail from Platanos, Samos, Greece. His paternal grandparents come from Roino, Arcadia. His grandparents all came to the USA from 1920-1921. Vasilios Trakas fought for seven years in the Balkan Wars and WWI in the Greek Army as an infantryman and won the regimental dance contest in 1916 as a machine gunner.
A member of St. Paul Greek Orthodox Church in North Royalton, Ohio, Jim was elevated as a Reader of The Holy Orthodox Church by His Grace Gerasimos, Bishop of Adydos at Pittsburgh. He was an altar boy for nearly ten years and was captain of the altar boys for five years at St. Paul.
A member of the John M. Manos Cleveland Chapter of the Order of AHEPA, Trakas has won the Periclean of the Year Award as well as the Socratan of the Year Award at his local chapter. He is also a member of The American Hellenic Institute and contributes to IOCC in the Cleveland Area. He has been recognized for his leadership by American Hellenic Institute and United Hellenic Organizations.
As a legislator, he has twice been Grand Marshall in the Cleveland Greek Independence Day Parade, and has helped to commemorate the holiday by sponsoring resolutions in The Ohio House of Representatives, where he was a Member from 1999-2006. Jim also passed resolutions through the Legislature encouraging the U.S. Department of State to include Greece in the Visa Waiver Program, as well as encouraging the U.S. Department of State to not recognize FYROM with a traditional Greek name as wrong diplomacy for the U.S. Trakas also has co-sponsored legislation to recognize the Armenian Holocaust and called on the Turkish Government to apologize to the Armenian people. He was instrumental in working to install a bust of Clisthenes in The Ohio House Chamber and help educate Ohioans on the role that the Greeks played in establishing the democratic-republican ideas.
Trakas was married at The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Columbus Ohio to Anne Kennedy Trakas. They live in Independence, Ohio and carry on the traditions of Greek American families. Jim is active in cultural and art organizations that glorify Greek culture and has spoken out about the continued Turkish Occupation of Cyprus as a public figure. As a member of the American Nationalities Movement he has championed freedom’s causes around the world, and has won that organization’s Man of The Year Award for his commitment to the Greek community.
Contribution checks should be made to the order of Trakas for Congress and mailed to: 1500 West 3rd Street, Suite 120, Cleveland, OH 44113. For on-line contributions go to http://www.jimtrakas.org/contribute.php.
The maximum contribution for an individual is $2,300 for the primary election which was held on March 4, 2008, and another $2,300 for the general election on November 4, 2008.
