On March 28 , 2015 , Kihuen announced he was running for Congress in , seeking to defeat first-term incumbent Republican Cresent Hardy . He defeated seven other candidates in the Democratic primary on June 14 , 2016 . Kihuen spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention , the only 2016 House recruit to do so . During the campaign , Kihuen was on leave from his job at the Las Vegas-based public relations firm the Ramirez Group
2016 Democratic National Convention
2016 Democratic National Convention
Ruben Kihuen