Sheets to run for Congress as independent (MA)

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http://www.patriotledger.com/news/state_news/x2071994180/Sheets-to-run-for-Congress-as-independent

Quincy’s longest serving mayor, James Sheets, announced this afternoon that he will run for Congress as an independent.

Sheets, 74, joins a crowded field of candidates who have been campaigning, in some cases for months, to succeed U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, a Quincy Democrat who is not seeking reelection.

Sheets, a lifelong Democrat, unenrolled from the party in February due to what he describes as growing frustration over the direction that Democratic leaders in Washington have been taking the country. He’s been especially critical of the recently passed federal health care overhaul.

“I was a member of the Democratic party all my life, but there comes a time when the people come first – not big government,” Sheets said in a statement Tuesday. “Today, I believe the Democratic party has abandoned its ideals and vision. I intend to go to Congress not to start a career, but to help set America free, to ensure that our children and grandchildren will be able to live the ‘American Dream.’”