Doug Bugie, Democratic candidate for Congress in Ohio District 7, believes his experience as a leader can unite and uplift, not divide as Trump and the Republicans are constantly doing. “I will work tirelessly to stop gridlock and endless conflict. I’ve doing this all my life in the USA and globally,” Bugie says. “Problems like gun violence, immigration and drugs killing us are decades old and only getting worse. Like the all-time Cleveland great, Jim Brown, whose straight-arm could stop a tackler cold, that is what I want to do, stop Trump-Miller and bring an end to these ongoing American tragedies by building bridges of compromise to stop them cold.’’
Bugie’s campaign is driven by “Building a Bridge to the Center” as a Centrist Democrat, moderate Republicans and Independents to finally solve America’s huge problems. “This is the only way Trump-Miller can be defeated,” Bugie says. “Just as ‘Red’ Ohio stood up for women’s reproductive across party politics by voting ‘Yes’ on Issue 1, so too will District 7 in voting out Trumps’s ‘man-in pocket’ Miller and rejecting the would-be Caesar Trump shock the nation and world.”
ugie makes an early prediction: “No one will believe it now but watch this space – my Centrist coalition will beat Republican Miller by 10%, which was his margin of victory in the last election. Trump is growing the Center every time he speaks. Miller cannot separate himself from Trump, nor does he want to—they are joined at the hip.”
Bugie is a former Republican who left the party due to the influence of Trump. He ran for Congress 30 years ago as a Democrat and is running again now as a Democrat. “I tried to be a moderating force in the Republican Party, but Trump has a stranglehold that is like a cult,” says Bugie. “I did not leave them as much as they left me. But there are far more moderate Republicans than people think. Watch what happens—the Center of the Democrats, Republicans Independents will rise in the primary and especially so in the general election.’’
Bugie challenges, “How long can America endure this? It is time to stand up to Trump. He called Senator McCain a loser for being captured and staying to the last man in Vietnam. The prior U.S. Congressman Anthony Gonzalez was driven out of office with death threats after voting for impeachment for the January 6 insurrection, which Trump encouraged and oversaw. He called the legitimate election a steal and he tried to then steal it himself. And now he calls a woman he was recently convicted of sexually assaulting ‘a whack job. I don’t know her.’
“Trump has nothing but contempt for democracy. He is a would-be modern-day Caesar, but there is one huge problem for him, and it is called democracy.”
Doug Bugie is a global entrepreneur who has started and grown hundreds of recruitment businesses in the USA and forty countries. He was CEO at two public multinationals and his companies have filled more than 100,000 jobs. He organized and led bipartisan leaders to convince a British multinational to move their headquarters to CLE vs Raleigh, and they hired over two thousand people, many in Cleveland.
“My views on the economy and what can spur it and job growth are straightforward,” he says. “I want to see a flat income tax and lower corporate tax on foreign investment to Ireland’s level at 12.5% and spur ways of keeping college graduates in this district and region.”
Bugie says with undisguised enthusiasm, “And get this this—the economy with Biden is getting better any way you look at it—gas prices, and inflation are down, job creation is up. Who was the last President to balance the budget? Clinton. Who added $8 Trillion to the deficit? Trump.’’
ivic activism on boards of directors has shaped Doug’s life and views: The Cleveland Police Foundation, which bridges police with the community; Global Cleveland, which welcomes immigration; Values in Action, which increases kindness and graduation rates for over 200,000 students; Near West Theater, which has uplifted 20,000 kids from all walks of life; and Our Lady of The Wayside, which provides housing and support for the mentally challenged. Bugie has been at the forefront for reducing gun violence for 45 years but owns guns and supports the Second Amendment.
What does “The Center” mean to Doug Bugie?
He wants to see kids believe that joining the police is a great vocation.
Although a gun owner and Second Amendment supporter, Doug wants to see the manufacture of semiautomatics stopped and mental health care a major national drive. He wants red flags laws to become a societal norm— “If you see something bad happening, report it.”
He wants to close the border now, until it is fixed—as hard as that will be on those wanting to come to America. ‘’Working in the developing world for many years I have huge empathy. At the same time, we should massively uplift legal immigration.’
He wants to keep the state out of women’s and family’s decision about reproductive choice and see a massive increase in adoption for unwanted babies.
He wants to stop fentanyl completely using all military means and a treaty with Mexico that allows the US into Mexico to destroy cartels. Fentanyl and human trafficking capital crimes should carry life sentences and no chance of parole.
He wants to never see a homeless Vet on the streets again.
He wants to invest youth and the nation with a pride of purpose, massively increasing the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps.
He wants to motivate youth to believe in the American Dream again.