'Joe the Plumber' Wins Ohio GOP Nod for Congress

He rose to unlikely fame during the 2008 presidential election, becoming the voice of the American everyman.

And now Joe the Plumber has won the Republican nomination for Ohio's largely Democrat 9th Congressional District, beating relative unknown real estate agent Steve Kraus.

Joe, real name Samuel Wurzelbacher, will face veteran Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur after she beat fellow liberal incumbent Dennis Kucinich to win her party's nomination Tuesday night. The election requiring either Kaptur or Kucinich to surrender a seat was forced by redistricting.

Wurzelbacher, 38, who gained the plumber moniker for accosting then-candidate Barack Obama over taxes on a campaign stop four years ago, came into the contest with a clear advantage and even won the endorsement of former hopeful Herman Cain.

Only last week, Wurzelbacher told Ohioans he would be running against either Kaptur or Kucinich, having been assured of victory in the primary, the Plain Dealer of Cleveland reported.

Speaking to the Dayton Daily News last year, Wurzelbacher said he wasn't going to run on fame alone.

I've been Joe the Plumber for three years now, he said. I haven't made millions of dollars off it.

Instead he has stuck to traditional conservative themes of dismantling big government and bringing his outsider approach to Washington politics.

I don't know many people that really, truly want to drive a Leaf, he recently told Fox News Toledo, referring to Nissan's plug-in electric car. I drive a big Dodge four-by-four truck and I love leaving a carbon footprint wherever I go.

But despite his successful campaign for the GOP nomination, experts are far less sure the plumber can go all the way and take the largely Democratic district.

Speaking to the Plain Dealer, political strategist Mary Anne Sharkey said a victory for Wurzelbacher would be nearly impossible.

I don't think any of them [Republicans] view him as someone who can win the election, but they do view him as someone with an important voice in northern Ohio, she said.