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The first Occupy candidate: Nate Kleinman

Nathan Kleinman, a 29-year-old member of the Occupy Philadelphia movement, intends to run for congress in Pennsylvania's 13th district against Democratic incumbent Allyson Schwartz.

"The petition gathering period starts today and lasts for three weeks, so I plan to file by then," Kleinman told me over the phone today. "I'll be running in the Democratic primary."

Kleinman, who refers to himself as a human rights activist and organizer, served as an aide to Joe Sestak's unsuccessful 2010 Senate campaign before becoming a legislative assistant to Pennsylvania State Representative Josh Shapiro.

More recently, he has been a member of the Occupy Philadelphia movement, participating in a number of associated working groups, including "Free University," "Outreach Working Group," "Process Working Group," "Camp Liberty," and "The Committee of Correspondence," through which he became involved with InterOccupy.org, which he describes as "a central hub for communications" in the national Occupy movement.

Now, he plans to campaign for the House of Representatives, which would make him the first member of the Occupy movement to seek a seat in Congress.

"After a GREAT meeting tonight in Jenkintown, I'm excited to say: I'm running for Congress!!" Kleinman wrote on his Facebook page last night. He later joined Facebook's "Occupy US Congress" group.

Kleinman told me that he intends to run on his own, autonomous platform, but will "stay involved in the Occupy movement" during the campaign.

A spokesperson in Representative Schwartz's office told me that she knew "a little" about Kleinman, but did not elaborate. A spokesperson with the Pennsylvania state election office confirmed that filing petitions for 2012 went out today, and said that an applicant must obtain 1,000 signatures to qualify.

"You need 1,000 signatures and a hundred dollars," Kleinman explained. "It's a pretty low bar."

UPDATE: The Nate for Congress campaign has launched a Twitter account.

UPDATE 2: The first official campaign email blast, which Kleinman sent out today:

Dear friends, As you may have already heard, at the close of an exciting town hall meeting on Monday night, I decided to throw my hat into the ring as a candidate for U.S. Congress against Rep. Allyson Schwartz. In just 48 hours, I've already received some unexpected and amazing press (in Politico, Metro, Philly Weekly, the Times Herald, the Intelligencer, and more). I've been fielding inquiries from across the country and I expect to be alerting you to upcoming TV appearances very shortly. I have also begun building my campaign team. Two amazing friends have already (temporarily) dropped out of college to join my campaign on a full-time basis. It's going to take lots of hard work, but I strongly believe I can win this race. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be running. The first major step is to collect more than enough signatures to get on the ballot. I need volunteers to help reach my goal of 5000 signatures (1000 are required), before February 14th. In order to circulate petitions for me - or to sign a petition - you must be a registered Democrat living in the 13th District, which now includes all of Cheltenham, Abington, Jenkintown, Rockledge, Lower/Upper Moreland, Bryn Athyn, Hatboro, Conshohocken, West Conshohocken, Bridgeport, and Ambler, as well as significant portions of Horsham, Norristown, Conshohocken, Lansdale, North Wales, Springfield, Plymouth, Whitemarsh, Whitpain, Upper Dublin, Lower Gwynned, Upper Gwynned, King of Prussia, and Montgomery Township, along with many neighborhoods in North and Northeast Philadelphia, including Olney, Oak Lane, Frankford, Lawn Crest, Rhawnhurst, Bridesburg, Somerton, Bustleton, Mayfair, and Fox Chase. Do you live in the new 13th District? If you're not sure, please check this handy website: http://www.redistricting. state.pa.us/Maps/ Congressional.cfm For those willing to circulate petitions, I or a volunteer will gladly bring blank petitions directly to you. You can also pick them up - or simply sign your name - between 4:30pm and 6:30pm THIS FRIDAY at the Cosi in Elkins Park (50 Yorktown Plaza, by the corner of Old York Road & Church Rd). I will be sitting there working, and happy to discuss the campaign or anything else. I promise this campaign will quickly become much more polished than my 4am emails indicate. This effort is much too important to mess up. Thank you so much for all of the passionate support. Nate P.S. If you would like to stop receiving these emails, just say the word.

UPDATE 3: On January 27, Kleinman told Current TV's Cenk Uygur that he does not represent the Occupy movement but will continue to work with them during his campaign. Per a release from his campaign: