Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Freeman
Hi Sean, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am the oldest of four children and the son of parents who have worked in government, education and social services. My upbringing and education have been faith filled and centered on the principles of serving others. My maternal grandparents immigrated from Ireland to find a better life for their kids and grandkids. I’d like to help carry on that hope for everyone in the 11th District.
I’ve been actively involved in local elections, including campaigning for Mayor Justin Bibb and working for Republican US Senate candidate Matt Dolan. I have also had the opportunity to meet people searching and working for a better life in a variety of settings: (1) meeting tomato farmers in Florida fighting to earn an extra penny per bushel, (3) talking with people at the US-Mexico Border and El Salvador, (4) working with Habitat for Humanity in Mississippi, (5) serving food at food pantries and homeless shelters, (6) reading and working with kids in schools like St. Thomas Aquinas and (7) playing basketball and writing poetry with kids at the juvenile detention centers to name a few. In all these encounters, people are seeking respect, safety and the ability to thrive with their family and friends. That isn’t much to ask, yet it is harder to achieve than it needs to be. I am thrilled anytime I can aid another, but I know I could do more.
So, I decided to run for office. While my opponents needed 25 and 50 signatures, respectively, I required over 2,100 signatures to be on the ballot. I was able to earn my spot on this ballot by collecting over 2,800 valid signatures from voters across this District at places and events like Lakewood Park, the Shaker Square farmer’s market, and the Summer Concert Series to name a few.
I’m running for Congress to bring the most cost effective and efficient solutions to the systemic problems we face, and renew our belief that with hard work and care for our neighbors, we can achieve what we desire in our Land of the Free.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The journey has not been easy. I lack access to typical financial resources and personnel due to my running as an Independent. There is no overarching party support I can lean on. I have had to complete my own FEC filings because firms who typically offer this service to candidates refused to take me as a client due to their fear that working with an Independent would hurt their business.
I also do not hold the personal finances to stop working and focus solely on this race. I have to work, but, that is something I am used to and welcome. While working a full time job and a bartending shift, I collected signatures every night after work to appear on this ballot.
While it has been a challenge, nothing worth having is easy. Being required to collect nearly 100x the number of signatures as the current congressperson, I had to reach people where they were at and with a humility I believe voters might find uncommon. In my nearly 10,000 interactions with members of District 11, I honed my policy goals to reflect what I heard the most from my community members. I believe my signature requirement should be the same as the other candidates, but instead of each of us needing 50 signatures or less, we should all have to collect over 2,100. Throughout this race, my job has not been to wine and dine the largest potential donors, but to meet as many people as possible. In this process, I have formed a clearer understanding of what voters want. I am eager to deliver for them, the people this position should truly serve.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have never held a political position — not even in school government. Up until 2019, government work had not crossed my mind. I have worked for a construction company, in non-profit communications, with the Cleveland Guardians as customer support, and in the fast food and restaurant businesses as a cook, bartender, and server. I have held and excelled in sales roles, including for a startup educational technology firm. I have worked in market research for a capital markets consultant. I have contracted with at least three of the largest national, if not global, banks and trading platforms to assist in their compliance — tracking fraudsters, launders and scammers.
While in college at John Carroll University, I worked in the university’s Sports Information department, I provided tours to prospective students and their families, and I drove vans of students to non-profit, juvenile detention, and gradeschool service sites around the Greater Cleveland area.
Across all of these roles, communication has been my specialty. No matter the setting, the clientele or our goal, I excel at communicating with those I worked with and those I worked for. Experiencing the peoples, cultures and work in each of these industries have given me a wider perspective on not only what works well, but also what could use improvement.
Reaching nearly 10,000 people in a year with less than $10,000, I have demonstrated my ability to reach people from all walks of life across this District, with a message of unity for our collective advancement.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Find and use every motivation you can. This has been a long journey — I decided I was going to run around the fall of 2022. I formally began my campaign on March 4th, 2023, and there is still time left before November. It is impossible to maintain the same excitement each and every day.
So, call on everything and everyone you are doing this for:
I think of the people who live here in this incredible community, who need change to come.
I think of my family, my loved ones — who will do anything for me, and who I want to make proud.
I think of those who came before — who would not be able to believe where their descendant is now, thanks to all of their work.
I think of those who have tried to help those around them, and did. But, for whatever reason, their time on earth ran too short.
I think of the people who are to come. Who may not know who I am, but will hopefully reap the benefits of effective policy that ultimately made their lives a little easier, a little better.
I think of my higher power. Whatever or whoever you believe it to be, they are always with you, rooting for you. Hoping that you succeed.
Never forget who you are doing it for.
Pricing:
- Yard Signs cost $2. If you support this campaign, please consider donating $2 for your own or another’s yard sign.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.freemanforcongress.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freemanforcongress/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559312393070
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@livefree–freemanforcongress
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefree2024
