David Krikorian (born November 19, 1968) is an American businessman and former candidate for

Ohio's 2nd congressional district Ohio's 2nd congressional district is a district in southern Ohio. It is currently represented by Republican David Taylor. The district includes all of Adams, Brown, Pike, Clermont, Highland, Clinton, Ross, Pickaway, Hocking, Vinton ...

running as both an Independent and a Democratic candidate in several races.

Personal life

David Krikorian was born and raised in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

. He is married to Elena Krikorian and they have three children. Krikorian holds a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

from

Bentley University Bentley University is a private university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1917 as a school of accounting and finance in Boston's Back Bay, Boston, Back Bay neighborhood. Bentley has one undergraduate school which off ...

and an

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

. He is the founder and managing partner of Parody Productions LLC located in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, OH, which produces playing cards and jigsaw puzzles. Krikorian is also the founder of Fabricon3D, which provides 3D printing services and founde
Nashville Hot
a Nashville style hot chicken restaurant in 2015 located in Crescent Springs, Kentucky. Previous employers include

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, formerly known as Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), owned by FMR LLC and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, provides financial services. Established in 1946, the company is one of the largest asset managers in the ...

Deloitte & Touche Deloitte is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four a ...

Cincinnati Bell Cincinnati Bell, Inc., doing business as Altafiber, is a regional telecommunications service provider based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It provides landline telephone, fiber-optic Internet, and IPTV services through its subsidiaries Alt ...

an
Tom & Chee
Krikorian's grandparents (maternal & paternal) are survivors of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. Krikorian is a member of the

Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...

Independent candidacy

Krikorian ran as an Independent candidate for

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and came in third behind Republican incumbent Representative

Jean Schmidt Jeannette Mary Schmidt (née Hoffman; born November 29, 1951) is an American politician who is a state representative in Ohio's 62nd district. She was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative for , serving from 2005 to 2013. ...

and Democratic challenger

Victoria Wulsin Victoria Elizabeth Wells Wulsin (born October 27, 1953) is an American physician and political candidate who specializes in epidemiology, and AIDS research among women in Africa. She has also been involved in politics, and in 2006 and 2008 ran as ...

, receiving 17.71 percent of the vote after endorsements from the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police, the

Ohio Libertarian Party The Libertarian Party of Ohio (LPO) is the Ohio affiliate of the Libertarian Party. It is the fourth largest state affiliate of the Libertarian Party nationally and the third largest political party in Ohio. History The Libertarian Party of ...

, and the ''Georgetown News Democrat.''

Entrance to the Democratic Party

In 2009, Krikorian announced that he would seek the Democratic Party nomination for the Second District in 2010. He was narrowly defeated by marketing executive Surya Yalamanchili after Republican Congresswoman Jean Schmidt made false allegations about Krikorian. Rep. Schmidt won an easy re-election in the 2010 general election against Yalamanchili.

Controversies

Civil lawsuit

In June 2010,

sued Krikorian in Ohio civil court for a total of $6.8 million in perceived damages to her image. The lawsuit was unsuccessful. On July 1, 2011, Krikorian's complaints to the OCE pertaining to Schmidt were elevated to full probation by the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Ethics Committee. She was accused of accepting free legal services from Turkish-American interest groups pertaining to her lawsuits against Krikorian.

Case history

*The House of Representatives Ethics Committee ruled in early August 2011 that Schmidt had accepted funds and assistance from the Turkish Coalition of America for her lawsuits against Krikorian. As part of the House Ruling Schmidt was ordered to pay back over $500,000 in impermissible gifts to the Turkish Coalition of America a 501(c)(3) . Ethics complaints filed by Krikorian against Schmidt about illegal third party funding for the lawsuits resulted in his vindication. *Schmidt's attorneys from 2008 to 2012 represented the

Turkish Coalition of America The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) is the main Turkish lobby organization in the United States. Its stated purpose includes education and congressional advocacy. It is based in Washington, D.C., with an office in Boston, Massachusetts. A 501 ...

(TCA), which paid the full $500,000 legal fees to these attorneys for legal costs and actions that benefited Schmidt. *Prior to the HEC final decision in August 2011, Schmidt provided legal documentation that she was unaware the TCA group may possibly be affiliated with the Turkish government. Schmidt said she did not know TCA had paid her legal bills against Krikorian for almost 2 years, despite she or her Congressional staff meeting with and talking by telephone to these TCA attorneys on a regular basis about the lawsuits against Krikorian. Schmidt then claimed to the HEC that she could not be held legally responsible for the unknown actions of her TCA attorneys. The HEC declared that Schmidt is accountable for paying the full $500,000 in legal fees as an unpaid debt and she should return any and all TCA funds. However, the HEC agreed not to reprimand Schmidt for not knowing who had paid her $500,000 legal costs for almost 2 years and said her $6.8 million lawsuit against Krikorian should be decided by the Federal courts.Cincinnati Enquirer: Rep. Jean Schmidt did not 'knowingly' break law, ethics committee says
/ref>

Olbermann and Yalamanchili

Krikorian allegedly made negative remarks about Surya Yalamanchili's name during the 2009 Congressional race, resulting in a rebuttal from Hamilton and Clermont County Democratic Chairmen Timothy M. Burke and David Lane, respectively. Subsequently,

Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ra ...

named Krikorian a "Worst Person in the World" on his MSNBC show, and Krikorian implied that since the show had run an

Oil of Olay Olay or Olaz, previously Oil of Olay, Oil of Olaz, Oil of Ulan, or Oil of Ulay, is an American skin care brand owned by Procter & Gamble. For the 2009 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, Olay accounted for an estimated $2.8 billion of P&G's re ...

advertisement,

Procter and Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/cons ...

were attempting to advance their former employee. Olbermann denied knowledge of what ads were being run on the show and stated that they had since checked the lineup and no Procter and Gamble ads had been run, although an online viewer informed him that Oil of Olay ads had been run prior to the online version of the episode.

2012 Congressional campaign

The

Ohio Democratic Party The Ohio Democratic Party (ODP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Ohio. Former state representative Kathleen Clyde has been the party's chairwoman since June 2025. Statewide, the Democrats currently are viewed as th ...

and affiliates across southern

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

began circulating literature for 2012 candidates as early as 2011. Krikorian launched a third candidacy for United States Congress. On March 6, 2012, he narrowly lost the Democratic primary to relative unknown William SmithPreliminary Ohio 2012 primary results
/ref> at the same time Schmidt lost the Republican primary to

Brad Wenstrup Brad Robert Wenstrup (born June 17, 1958) is an American politician, U.S. Army Reserve officer, and doctor of podiatric medicine, who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2025. A Republican, he upset incumbent U.S. representati ...

. Multiple robo-calls were made on behalf of candidate Smith through a

super PAC Independent expenditure-only political action committees, better known as super PACs, are a type of political action committee (PAC) in the United States. Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs are legally allowed to fundraise unlimited amounts of m ...

called Victory Ohio. Krikorian believes this contributed to his loss in the 2012 primary.