User:JdKinne/DraftJustinCoussoule

Justin Coussoule is a Democratic Congressional candidate running in Ohio's Eighth District against incumbant John A. Boehner. Coussoule is a West Point Graduate, a former U.S. Army Captain; he is an attorney, and worked as a purchasing manager at Procter & Gamble. He is married to Amanda Coussoule, they have two children. He says he is running for Congress because “the people of the 8th District have been ignored and taken for granted by our Representative in Congress”

Education and career
Coussoule is a 1993 graduate of Hoosac Valley High School”, and a 1997 graduate of West Point” where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in American Politics with a Systems Engineering minor. After graduation he served over five and one half years in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer attaining the rank of captain.

After leaving the U.S. Army, Coussoule attended the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore and received a Juris Doctor (law degree). He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar and was hired as an associate attorney at a regional law firm where he worked in the litigation department. Coussoule practiced primarily in the state Worker’s Compensation system, advocating on behalf of injured workers to secure payment of their compensation and benefits for work-related injuries.

Candidacy
Justin Coussoule announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives on February 18th, 2010, in Hamilton, Ohio. He has said “I’m running because I think that we are facing big issues right now that need long-term solutions, thoughtful approaches. I’m afraid these things will be around for my kids, they are only 2 and 4, 30 years from now if we don’t act like adults and address them now. In particular when you consider who my opponent is. I would consider him the chief architect of ‘No’ and obstructionism and delay.”  He won the November 4th primary where he ran unopposed. with 17,807 votes.

Two Republicans, Manfred Schreyer and Tom McMasters, opposed the incumbent John Boehner”. Mr. Boehner won the Republican primary with 49,639 votes (84% in the Republican primary). Libertarian David A. Harlow is also running for the Eighth District seat.

Endorsements
Coussoule has been endorsed by:
 * Congressman Barney Frank (Massachusetts's 4th district)
 * Congressman Alan Grayson (Florida’s Eighth District)
 * Blue America ’10

Personal Life
Justin was born and raised in Adams, a small Massachusetts town of fewer than 9,000. Justin’s paternal grandmother worked in a textile mill. Justin's paternal grandfather retired after serving 30-years as an Adams police officer. Justin’s maternal grandmother raised eight children and owned her own business, running a boarding house. Her husband, his other grandfather, retired as a city firefighter. His mother also owned and operated a small business, and eventually retired from a career as a commercial food worker. His father is a self-employed carpenter.

Justin and wife Amanda, also a 1997 West Point graduate, have been married since 2001 and have two children, Caroline (4) and John (3). They live in Liberty Township, Ohio, in the 8th Congressional District.