Paul Hackett, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, brought his campaign to Kent last night with a rousing speech before about 200 people at the meeting of the Portage Democratic Coalition.

Hackett is the Iraq War veteran who narrowly lost a congressional bid as a Democrat in Southern Ohio’s overwhelmingly Republican 2nd district this past summer. He is now running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Ohio Republican Mike DeWine.

“I’m a Democrat – a liberal Democrat and proud of it,” Hackett said last night.