AKRON, Ohio - Two days after making his gubernatorial run official, former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat, chose Akron City Councilwoman Tara Samples as his running mate.

Kucinich introduced Samples at the Burning Bush Church in downtown Akron. Echoing Kucinich's gubernatorial announcement from earlier this week, Samples said it was time for the people to "take back" Columbus.

"As our candidate for governor - and soon to be governor - Congressman Kucinich said on Wednesday, this is a moment when the people must take back their government," Samples said.

Samples, like Kucinich, has connections with the progressive wing of the party. She supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in his 2016 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and is friends with former state Sen. Nina Turner, a fellow Sanders supporter who leads Sanders' political organization Our Revolution.

Samples said joining Kucinich's campaign was "the honor of my life" and that he had "one of the most progressive platforms out there."

Kucinich said he was instantly enthralled with Samples as a possible running mate.

"This ticket is a ticket of unity," Kucinich said. "This ticket is a ticket of inclusiveness. This ticket is a ticket of social justice. It is a ticket of economic justice. It is a winning ticket for Democrats and the state of Ohio."

Samples, a mother of five, said she faced adversity to get where she is in politics, but always knew she wanted to be in government. She had two children while in high school and was married with four children by the time she was 23. Nevertheless, Samples attended and graduated from the University of Akron before working as a paralegal and bailiff.

Samples was first elected in 2013, winning re-election in 2017.

She was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention for President Barack Obama in 2012 - where she first met Kucinich - and for Sanders in 2016.

Samples is one of only two black candidates on a gubernatorial ticket in a year that has seen black voters - especially black women - commanding the direction of special elections. Black women were particularly credited with pushing Democratic Alabama Sen. Doug Jones to an upset victory in December.

"As we learned from what happened in Alabama, black women are the key to this," Samples said. "I truly believe they want to see someone who shares their belief system, but also looks like them."

Kucinich is one of five Democrats aiming to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. John Kasich.