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Sean Freeman
Sean Freeman (independent) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Ohio's 11th Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Freeman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Sean Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois. Freeman's career experience includes working as an analyst. He earned a bachelor's degree from John Carroll University in 2019.[1]
Freeman has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- Newman Civic Fellows
- Coalition of Immokalee Workers
- Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus
- Clevelanders for Public Transit
- Heights Tree People
- Western Reserve Land Conservancy Tree Stewards
- Loyola Club — Jesuit Friends and Alumni Network of Cleveland
Elections
2024
See also: Ohio's 11th Congressional District election, 2024
Ohio's 11th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Republican primary)
Ohio's 11th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 19 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Ohio District 11
Incumbent Shontel Brown defeated Alan Rapoport, Sean Freeman, Tracy DeForde, and Christopher Zelonish in the general election for U.S. House Ohio District 11 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Shontel Brown (D) | 78.3 | 236,883 |
 | Alan Rapoport (R)  | 19.6 | 59,394 | |
 | Sean Freeman (Independent) | 2.0 | 6,107 | |
 | Tracy DeForde (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 27 | |
 | Christopher Zelonish (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 2 | |
| Total votes: 302,413 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Tony Evans (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 11
Incumbent Shontel Brown advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 11 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Shontel Brown | 100.0 | 61,573 |
| Total votes: 61,573 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 11
Alan Rapoport defeated James Hemphill and Landry Simmons Jr. in the Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 11 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Alan Rapoport | 56.8 | 8,385 |
 | James Hemphill | 22.7 | 3,350 | |
 | Landry Simmons Jr. | 20.5 | 3,024 | |
| Total votes: 14,759 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Freeman in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sean Freeman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Freeman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- I’m running as an independent to pull us back together while each party pushes us further apart. This campaign faces an uphill battle, but my responsibility is to meet the needs of everyday Americans, not the needs of the political establishment.
- In office, my goal is to make Election Day a Federal Holiday and institute opt-out voter registration to make it as easy as possible for citizens to exercise their right to vote. These policies should have been passed long ago. We’ll accomplish them now.
- Technology and the internet have transformed our world at a drastic pace. Mostly for the better, but also for the worst. A congress with the average representative being nearly 60 years old is not positioned to be as swift and effective as we need them to be. I am capable of addressing the roots of these emerging technologies. Technology requires decisive action for our collective advancement. It also enables transparency. I will do everything I can to make Congress as visible as possible so we can learn how deals are made before they reach the House floor. This is how we will find out who holds the office for the people and who is there for themselves.
Public policy that requires more time, but I am equally passionate about, are voting and election rights, improving healthcare and protecting our planet. I want to elaborate on more policy, but I am at my 'character limit.'
He moved mountains not with his fists and finances, but with his kindness & determination to create the best possible show for his listeners.
I should clarify that while I see this book as a mirror image of a world we see more and more of today, the characters have shifted roles: There are many James Taggart’s in politics, as well as many more in the business world. Both must be met with John Galts, Dagny Taggarts, and Hank Reardens.
Each of these objectives boil down to more money in people’s pockets.
If you have a good paying job with upward mobility, why would you jeopardize it by committing crimes? Good paying jobs equates to safer communities. Safer, and now wealthier, communities lead to stronger property value. Stronger property values lead to larger property taxes, which are used to create better schools.
When people have someone willing to do what it takes to win for them in office, you don’t get leaders willing to sell out to companies like FirstEnergy, or ones who follow wherever the political winds are blowing. As someone who has never tolerated bullies, I won’t bend to those who offer me a sweet deal that sucker punches everyone else. I see working for the federal government as my way of standing up to the bullies who have seemingly taken over our country’s interests and priorities. I wish to reset our priority towards the people — the ones who select us to make the right call for us all.
I recognize that I am striving for what others believe is impossible. However, my friends have noted in everything from ‘friendly competitions’ to tests of the mind, body and spirit, I possess an iron will. I fully intend to be the next OH-11 congressman.
And, in the meantime, raise the voices and resources of the many making life better for our communities every day.
My race, my sexuality, my creed and my birth in this great nation have given me a lot of advantages, purely by luck. This luck provides me the responsibility to offer people the same privileges I have enjoyed.
Nonetheless, luck can only go so far. What I lack in finances, I make up for in my desire and ability to learn from others and apply their findings for a better world for all. I know I am not the smartest person in this District, but I am the one willing to put my hat in the ring for the job that must be done.
Most congressional representatives today spend their time fundraising, on the phone or at the hotel restaurant, on the jet or in the suite. I, out of necessity, spend my time at the house parties, the concerts, the markets, local restaurants and the sporting events with various groups and individuals in the community who can help me tackle a problem through their wisdom. Good ideas exist everywhere in everyone. When I am elected, I plan on dancing with the ones who brought me.
Simultaneously, the rise of technologies, particularly AI, are beasts we have created. While they are very new phenomena, they have completely transformed our world, and continue to do so at a rapid pace.
In order to properly tackle both climate change and the meteoric rise in technology dependence, we must be communicative and collaborative to a point we have not yet reached as a human race. It will take our entire planet to stop global warming. Luckily enough, technology has given us the ability to communicate with the entire human race, at once. For the first time. Ever. AI might be the weapon we can utilize to correct our past climate mistakes and set us on a course to prosperity.
Additionally, while not a US representative, former Cleveland mayor Mike Johnson is a newer role model of mine. Before he was even in the job, he worked out a deal with Cleveland’s streetcar services to keep the costs low for the consumers while keeping the streetcars running. He expertly fought for the people, while not isolating the streetcar operators. Instead, Johnson showed these wealthy businessmen the importance of their customers in the bigger picture of a city on the rise. Today, Mayor Johnson presides over our downtown, taking in all that is good and bad, and constantly reminding us a better, more equitable path is possible.
Despite these challenges, we have strong people who maintain resilient communities with uncommonly strong bonds. These stretch across our district, providing a vibrant web of connections that make the greater Cleveland area an incredible place to live.
In many ways, Cleveland is the story of our nation: people working hard to supply for themselves, their families and communities – who have been sold bills of goods by ‘leaders’ who do not match the heart, soul and strength of the people they represent.
If we have good policy available, like concrete actions for our immigration system or Transparency for our Corporations or Accountability for our Social Media – we must move forward. Both parties this last year derailed good policy for political leverage. It’s a disgrace to the position they are assigned.
If I had to choose, however:
Energy and Commerce
Education and Workforce
Homeland Security, and
One instance of the need for transparency, outside of our military spending, is California’s spending on homelessness. It has reached $24 Billion since around 2019, but apparently, the spending hasn’t been monitored. Homelessness is a crucial issue we must tackle, and California is a state willing to try policy that other states could then adopt. Now, however, no one knows what programs worked and which ones didn't because the funds were not tracked. Meanwhile, homelessness in California has increased.
Every American understands the importance of balancing their own budget. This essential skill is seemingly lost on our political leaders.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Freeman’s campaign website stated the following:
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Based on the 5,000+ conversations I had this past year, these policies are ones the majority of us can get behind; and what I will immediately fight for in Congress. Automatic Voter Registration The Playbook, outlined by the State of Oregon
This is abysmal. Our country was founded on the principal that all of us select who we want to lead, instead of leaving power in the hands of a few. It may feel like we don’t have a choice today, but we do. We just have to work harder to use our voice than in the past. Our leaders can, however, make it easier for voters to make their vote count. That is what Oregon has done.
In 2015, the state passed automatic voter registration that went into effect in 2016. This automatically registered eligible citizens to vote and updated their registration addresses via DMV records. The DMV worked with the Elections Division of the Secretary of State office to send only people who had the proper documentation to vote from the DMV to the Secretary of State’s office. Applicants who provided other proofs of residence or those with protected records for safety risks (i.e. victims of domestic violence) were not sent to become automatically registered.
Whenever the DMV received an address update, they sent it to the Secretary of State, who verified the voter information and then automatically updated the voter’s new address in the registration system. Newly registered and updated voters get a postcard saying: 1) they have been registered to vote through automatic voter registration, 2) they can opt-out by signing and mailing back the postcard, and 3) to vote in the state’s closed partisan primary, they need to register with a political party by returning the postcard. New automatic registrants are allowed 21 days to return the postcard. Voters who do not return the card are added to the voter registration list as nonaffiliated voters.
This initiative increased voter registration the next year by 7%, an uncharacteristically effective increase, and resulted in Oregon becoming the second highest registered state in the country at 79% of eligible voters by 2017.
We can and should implement this process nationwide if our leaders truly care about allowing Americans to engage in the democratic process. Our government’s job is to make life easier, and this is a proven efficient and effective way to strengthen American’s access to freedom.
Source: FAQ: https://sos.oregon.gov/voting/Pages/motor-voter-faq.aspx Make Jury Duty Worth Your Time Be Paid to Fulfill Your American Duty, Not Dread It In the 11th District of Ohio, jurors are given $27 per day of duty. Simultaneously, Ohio state law does not require employers to pay their employees who take on jury duty. Ohio is one of 15 states that say employers can not force employees to use a personal day in order to attend jury duty, but jurors still walk away with only $27 for a day’s work. No wonder no one likes the idea of Jury Duty. This is supposed to be a process leading to civic participation in fair trails, but who would want to participate when you interrupt your daily work and potentially frustrate your employer to make just $27? Across the nation, employees should be given their full wages without having to take personal days while on jury duty.
The best requirements, combining current state rules, are: The employee must show their employer the court summons the workday after receiving the call to jury duty. If a company has fewer than 10 employees, only one employee can be at jury duty at a time. If there is more than one employee called in, their jury duty can be postponed or rescheduled. This creates an efficient jury duty system, where people do not fear a civic duty and taxpayers save on paying jurors $27 or more each day to attend jury duty. Currently, only Alabama, Georgia and Nebraska offer full paid leave for the length of the trail. Let’s guarantee all Americans this right! Plant More Trees
Currently, trees cover 37.6% of Cuyahoga County. Trees have been proven to:
Some of our biggest problems require the simplest solutions. Let’s hit 82.4% coverage in this district. End the Death Penalty Clean our Conscience and Our Pocketbooks This is a charged issue that evokes strong emotions either for or against. I am against using our tax dollars to kill people.
Those who have committed heinous crimes should and need to be punished accordingly, but it is not a government’s job to act as executioner. We are one of 24 states that still use the death penalty, and it costs us: spiritually AND economically. In Ohio right now, there are 128 people on death row. That costs us $128-384 Million. What a gross waste. They have already inflicted incredible harm on our society, why should we allow these people to hurt us in our pocketbooks, too? We can save at least $30 million a year by simply imprisoning those on death row for life. The increased vigilance and security required for these inmates, the constant procedures, double checks and triple checks, the purchase and transport of the lethal injections and more, is what causes the death penalty to be so uneconomical. Of the 56 people who have been killed in Ohio by the death penalty, 11 more were set to be killed, but then were found to be innocent.
Let’s clean our conscience and our pocketbooks.[2] |
” |
| —Sean Freeman’s campaign website (2024)[3] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate U.S. House Ohio District 11 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 25, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Sean Freeman’s campaign website, “Platform,” accessed September 30, 2024
