Maria Jukic

Maria Jukic earned a high school diploma from the Villa Angela Academy, a bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame, a graduate degree from John Carroll University, and a law degree from the Cleveland State University College of Law.

Her career experience includes working as an attorney and small business owner.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am tired of sorting people into two categories when most of us are in the massive middle. I want to listen, learn, and find common ground.

I am a child of immigrants. Union family. Grounded in Christian ethics: love your neighbor as yourself. Attorney. Healthcare career. Former City Councilwoman.

I was born in Cleveland in a Croatian-American family in a working-class neighborhood. My mom was in the UAW and my dad was a draftsman.

I was class president and valedictorian at Villa Angela Academy. I have a BA in American Studies, University of Notre Dame; MA in Theology and Religious Studies, John Carroll.; JD, Cleveland State College of Law; and a Fulbright Fellowship.

I spent 24 years in healthcare doing Marketing/Public Affairs at Euclid Hospital and Arts and Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. I served 4 years on Euclid City Council, graduated from Leadership Lake County, and served on nonprofit boards.

I worked in manufacturing, community organizations, and international humanitarian aid. As a teen, I had two paper routes, worked at the mall, and was a waitress.

My family and I know hard work and struggle. I know that having support, education, and opportunity can lead to the American dream.

I love this country for our freedom and democratic values, the beautiful tapestry of Americans, the decency and generosity of the people, and the promise of “liberty and justice for all.”

I want America to be the “shining city upon a hill” again, and I’m ready to fight for it.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

FOR THE PEOPLE: Today’s system is rigged in favor of special interests, large corporations, and the wealthiest among us at the expense of regular people. I want to improve the lives of regular Americans and fight for them. Protect Social Security and Medicare. Restore Medicaid and SNAP. Improve tax policy for people who work for a paycheck, for small businesses, and for farmers. Help the rich and corporations pay their fair share. Provide for our armed services members, veterans, and their families. Create jobs, support unions, and increase the minimum wage. Support education. Collaborate with communities. Defend environmental protections because when polluters are allowed to pollute, regular people get sick and die. Ask Erin Brockovich.FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND THE RULE OF LAW: Our government is blatantly and shamelessly violating the Constitution and undermining the Rule of Law - and Congress is letting them. I took an oath to the Constitution twice, as a lawyer 1and as a City Councilwoman. I take that oath seriously and I will stand up for the Constitution - even when I don’t like it. When my family was discriminated against and persecuted in a communist country for their beliefs and for being on the wrong side of the government, they were immensely grateful for this country where everyone was treated equally under the law, regardless of wealth, class, social group, or immigration status. We need to find our way back to that promise - with liberty and justice for all.FOR HEALTHCARE ACCESS AND AFFORDABILITY: ~30 million Americans will not have health insurance in 2026. ~100 million owe $220 billion in medical debt. 500,000 households face medical bankruptcy every year. 80% of U.S. counties are healthcare deserts. Prescription drugs are a financial burden for 67% of Americans. And the US ranks last among high-income nations. All of this while insurance and pharmaceutical companies make record profits. There must be a better way, but there is not enough political will to do it, largely because of special interests, lobbying, and campaign finance. But that’s another topic. My goal is to have honest, bipartisan, and broad-ranging conversations to create reasonable, long-term solutions to improve healthcare.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am most passionate about policies that relate to helping regular people. This includes Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, tax policy, farmers, families, food, military, veterans, small businesses, women’s and civil rights, labor and employment, health, healthcare, infrastructure, energy, education, crime and law enforcement, and more. I am also passionate about policies that defend the Constitution and the rule of law.

Important issues for our democracy are campaign finance reform, overturning Citizens United, and voting rights.

Policies essential to life on the planet include protecting the environment, renewable energy, and sustainability.

Urgent issues are affordability, immigration, foreign policy, and national debt/budget.

Campaign websiteJukic's campaign website stated the following:Healthcare: The Road to Universal Coverage​The ProblemThe American healthcare system is failing ordinary people — and the numbers prove it:27MAmericans have no health insurance100MAmericans carry a combined $220 billion in medical debt500Khouseholds file for medical bankruptcy every year80%of U.S. counties are healthcare deserts67%of Americans say prescription drug costs are a serious financial burdenThe United States ranks last among high-income nations in healthcare outcomes. Meanwhile, insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations are posting record profits.This is not a healthcare system. It is a profit system — and ordinary Americans are paying the price with their health, their savings, and their lives.Maria’s VisionMaria believes that healthcare is not a privilege for the wealthy — it is a basic human right and a foundation of a strong, productive society. She is committed to an honest, bipartisan, and broad-ranging conversation about how we get from where we are today to a system that works for everyone.There is no single magic solution. The road to universal coverage will require tackling the problem from multiple directions at once — lowering costs, expanding access, breaking up monopolies, and building political will that special interests have blocked for decades.Maria is not interested in scoring political points on healthcare. She is interested in fixing it.What Maria Will Fight For1. Lower the Medicare Eligibility AgeMaria will work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 62 — matching the earliest age a person can receive Social Security benefits. This closes a critical gap for older workers who are between jobs, self-employed, or simply can’t afford private insurance in their early 60s.2. Break Up Healthcare MonopoliesOne of the least-talked-about drivers of healthcare costs is consolidation. Today, a single corporation can own your insurance company, your pharmacy, your doctor’s office, and your pharmacy benefit manager — all under one profit-driven roof. This kills competition, drives up prices, and puts corporate shareholders ahead of patients. Maria supports the Break Up Big Medicine Act of 2026, which would rein in these monopolistic structures and restore competition to the healthcare marketplace.3. Take on Pharmaceutical PricingAmericans pay dramatically more for prescription drugs than people in any other high-income country — for the exact same medications. Maria supports allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies, capping out-of-pocket costs for insulin and other life-sustaining medications, and cracking down on price-gouging practices that put life-saving drugs out of reach for working families.4. Expand Access in Healthcare DesertsWith 80% of U.S. counties classified as healthcare deserts, rural and underserved communities — including parts of Ohio’s 14th — face a crisis of access to healthcare. Maria will fight for expanded funding for community health centers, rural hospital support, and telehealth infrastructure so that geography doesn’t determine whether you can see a doctor.5. Address the Medical Debt CrisisMedical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States. Maria supports stronger protections against unfair medical billing, greater hospital price transparency, and real relief options for families already overwhelmed by medical debt.6. The Long Road: Universal CoverageMaria believes the United States must ultimately join every other high-income nation in guaranteeing universal healthcare. She knows this won’t happen overnight — it will require building bipartisan consensus, reducing the influence of special interests in Congress, and having honest conversations about what a sustainable, universal system looks like. She is committed to that work for the long haul, not just for the next election cycle.Why Is This So Hard?Maria will tell you the truth: the lack of progress on healthcare isn’t simply about greed. Yes, insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations spend billions lobbying Congress to protect their bottom lines — and that’s a real problem. But the barriers run deeper than that.There’s fear. Fear of losing the coverage you have, however imperfect. Fear that reform means someone else gets something for free. There’s a deep distrust of the government’s ability to get anything right, and an erosion of the belief that we’re all in this together. These fears are understandable — and the people who benefit from the status quo know exactly how to stoke them.It’s also worth saying: not every actor in our healthcare system is driven by profit. Many hospitals — nonprofit institutions in communities like ours — are simply trying to keep their doors open, care for their patients, and do important research. The problem isn’t one villain. It’s a system that has grown so complicated, so entrenched, and so politically charged that meaningful change feels impossible.Maria believes it isn’t. But she also knows that campaign finance reform and healthcare reform go hand in hand. When corporations have outsized influence over our democracy, the people’s priorities come last.That’s why Maria refuses corporate PAC money. She does accept support from unions and community organizations that stand with working families — because she answers to the people of Ohio’s 14th District, not to the healthcare industry.Immigration: Constitutional, Humane, and SmartThe RealityImmigration is one of the most emotionally charged issues in American politics — and one of the most distorted. Politicians on both sides use it to score points and raise money while real people’s lives hang in the balance. Maria believes the Massive Middle of this country wants something neither extreme is offering: an immigration system that is both secure and humane, both lawful and compassionate.The current situation is a failure on every front. Our immigration laws are outdated. Our courts are overwhelmed. Our enforcement agencies are operating outside constitutional boundaries. And hardworking people who have built lives, raised families, and contributed to our communities for decades live in constant fear.We can do better. We must do better.The Crisis at Our Door Right NowBefore we talk about long-term reform, Maria wants to be direct about what is happening today — because it cannot wait.ICE is violating the Constitution. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is detaining people — including American citizens — based on their appearance, without due process, and in pursuit of daily arrest quotas. People are disappearing into a vast network of detention centers with no access to lawyers, no hearing, and no accountability. This is happening in America. Right now.This is not border security. This is not law enforcement. This is unconstitutional — and Maria will fight it from her first day in Congress.ICE must be reined in, retrained, and restructured. Enforcement must be targeted, lawful, and humane. Profit-driven detention warehousing of human beings is not acceptable in the United States of America.What Maria Will Fight For1. Restore Due ProcessEvery person on American soil — citizen or not — has constitutional rights. Maria will fight to end warrantless detentions, ensure access to legal counsel, and hold ICE accountable for civil rights violations. No more disappearing people into detention without due process of law.2. A Clear Path to CitizenshipMaria supports a fair, structured pathway to citizenship for immigrants who live, work, and contribute to our communities — especially those who have been here for years and have American-born children. These are our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends. They are not criminals. They are Americans in every way that matters except on paper.3. Protect DACA RecipientsPeople who were brought to this country as children — who grew up here, went to school here, built careers here — should not be punished for decisions made before they could walk. Maria fully supports a permanent legislative solution for DACA recipients, providing them a clear and certain path to citizenship.4. Reform the Immigration CourtsThe immigration court system is in crisis. Cases are backlogged for years. Judges are overwhelmed. Families are left in legal limbo for a decade or more. Maria will fight for significant new investment in immigration courts — more judges, more staff, more resources — so that cases are decided fairly and promptly.5. Create Legal Pathways for WorkersAcross Ohio’s 14th District and across the country, industries from agriculture to healthcare to construction depend on immigrant labor. Rather than criminalizing this reality, Maria supports expanding and modernizing legal visa pathways for essential workers — including seasonal agricultural workers, skilled tradespeople, and healthcare professionals — so that businesses can meet their workforce needs lawfully and workers have legal protections.6. Improve the Refugee and Asylum SystemPeople who are fleeing violence or real danger deserve a system that works — one that’s fair and doesn’t leave them waiting in limbo for years. Maria supports fixing the backlog, updating the technology, ensuring sufficient staffing to handle cases, and setting clear, consistent standards. And she believes people should be treated with basic dignity while their cases are being decided.7. End the Political FootballImmigration has been used as a wedge issue by both parties for decades — kept deliberately broken because it works better as a campaign issue than as a solved problem. Maria refuses to play that game. She will work across the aisle with anyone who is serious about comprehensive, lasting reform — because the people of Ohio’s 14th deserve a representative who is here to govern, not just to campaign.Immigration and the EconomyMaria also wants to connect the dots that too many politicians ignore: immigration policy is economic policy.Right now, the administration’s mass deportation campaign is causing labor shortages in food production — driving up grocery prices for every family in every county in our district. Rounding up hardworking people doesn’t make America safer. It makes your groceries more expensive and leaves crops to rot in the fields.Immigrants are not taking from our economy. Study after study shows they are net contributors — starting businesses, filling critical jobs, paying taxes, and revitalizing communities that would otherwise be shrinking. Whole towns across America have been brought back to life by immigrant families who chose to put down roots there.Smart immigration policy isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s good economics.Social Security: Protect What Americans EarnedThe PromiseSocial Security is not a government handout. It is not welfare. It is not charity.It is a promise — made by the United States government to every working American — that if you spend your life contributing to this country, you will not be left to struggle alone in your old age, or if you become disabled, or when you lose a spouse.70 millionAmericans depend on Social Security today.For most retirees, it is their single largest source of income. For millions of seniors in our community, it is the difference between dignity and poverty.That promise is now in danger. And Maria will not let it be broken.The ProblemSocial Security’s trust funds are projected to face a serious shortfall within the next decade. If Congress does nothing, benefits could be automatically cut by roughly 20% — affecting every single person who receives a check.This is not a secret. Washington has known about this for years. And yet Congress has done almost nothing, because fixing Social Security requires political courage — the kind that special interests and career politicians work very hard to avoid.At the same time, the current administration is actively undermining Social Security’s infrastructure — cutting staff, disrupting operations, and making it harder for Americans to access the benefits they earned. This is unacceptable, and Maria will fight it directly.The clock is ticking. This is not a problem we can keep kicking down the road.What Maria Will Fight For1. A Social Security Lock-BoxOne of the most persistent abuses in Washington is Congress raiding Social Security funds to pay for other priorities. Maria will advocate for a permanent Social Security Lock-Box — a legislative firewall that prevents Social Security funds from ever being diverted for other purposes. The money workers pay into Social Security belongs to them. Period.2. A Bipartisan Middle Class Working GroupMaria will initiate a serious, bipartisan congressional working group dedicated exclusively to the long-term solvency of Social Security. Not a committee that holds hearings and does nothing. A working group with a mandate to produce real legislative solutions — one that brings together members of Congress who are willing to put the American people ahead of their party and their donors.3. Make the Wealthy Pay Their Fair ShareHere is something most Americans don’t know: right now, Social Security payroll taxes stop applying above a certain income level — meaning a billionaire pays the same dollar amount into Social Security as someone earning a comfortable middle-class salary. Maria supports lifting or eliminating this cap so that higher earners contribute more, just as working Americans do on every dollar they earn. This one change alone would dramatically improve Social Security’s long-term finances.4. Expand the Contribution BaseCurrently, Social Security is funded primarily through wages, but wealthy Americans earn much of their income through investments, which are not subject to FICA contributions. Maria supports exploring ways to include more investment income in the Social Security contribution base, so that the burden of keeping this promise doesn’t fall exclusively on working people who earn a paycheck.5. Protect and Expand BenefitsAny solution to Social Security’s solvency must protect current beneficiaries completely and must not cut benefits for people who are already retired or near retirement. Maria will oppose any proposal that balances the books on the backs of seniors who have already spent a lifetime contributing to the system.6. Defend Social Security OperationsThe current effort to gut Social Security’s administrative capacity — cutting workers, closing offices, and disrupting payment systems — is an attack on the 70 million Americans who depend on it. Maria will fight every attempt to defund, privatize, or dismantle the operational infrastructure that delivers Social Security benefits to the people who earned them.What Maria Will OpposePrivatization. Placing Social Security funds in the stock market exposes retirees to market crashes and Wall Street risks. Maria will not support any plan that gambles seniors’ retirement security on the stock market.Raising the retirement age. For people who work physical jobs — in manufacturing, agriculture, construction, and care work — raising the retirement age is a benefit cut by another name. Maria opposes it.Benefit cuts of any kind for current or near-retirement beneficiaries.Social Security and the Bigger PictureLet’s be clear about what Social Security actually is: it’s your money. Not the government’s money. Yours. You paid into it every paycheck — you were required to — on the promise that it would be there when you retired. That’s not a handout. That’s a contract.For many seniors, that contract is the difference between getting by and getting evicted. Between filling a prescription and going without. And yet there are people in Washington who talk about cutting it, privatizing it, or raising the retirement age as if they’re doing you a favor by figuring out how to give you less of what you already paid for.Maria won’t stand for that. Protecting Social Security isn’t a political position for her — it’s a matter of basic honesty. You held up your end of the deal. Washington should hold up its.Tax Policy: For the Paycheck, Not the PortfolioThe ProblemFor the past 25 years, tax policy in America has been written by and for the wealthy. The results speak for themselves:Trillions of dollars have been added to the national debt through tax cuts that disproportionately benefited corporations and the investor classMiddle-class wages have stagnated while corporate profits have soaredWorking families pay a higher effective tax rate than billionaires who earn their money through investmentsA tax code so riddled with loopholes, carve-outs, and special interest provisions that it takes an army of accountants to navigate — if you can afford oneThe tax code is not broken by accident. It was carefully designed over the decades by the wealthy, the well-connected, well-funded lobbyists, and politicians to move wealth upward. And it has worked exactly as intended.Maria believes it is time to rewrite it for the people who actually built this country.The Fundamental UnfairnessHere is something that should make every working American angry.A teacher in Ravenna, a nurse in Eastlake, a factory worker in Madison — they pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on every single dollar they earn. They can’t hide their income. It shows up on a W-2. The IRS knows exactly what they made.A hedge fund manager or a wealthy investorpays a lower tax ratethan a teacher, nurse, or factory worker.A hedge fund manager or a wealthy investor, on the other hand, can earn millions through capital gains, carried interest, and investment income — and pay a lower tax rate than the teacher, the nurse, and the factory worker. They have access to tax shelters, offshore accounts, and loopholes that no ordinary family will ever see.This is not a free market. This is a rigged system. And Maria intends to un-rig it.What Maria Will Fight For1. A Bipartisan Tax Reform Working GroupMaria will build a coalition of Congress members from both parties who are serious — not just rhetorical — about rewriting the tax code for working Americans. Not another round of tax cuts for the wealthy dressed up as middle-class relief. Real, structural reform that makes the system fairer, simpler, and more honest.2. Tax Relief for Working FamiliesMost families don’t need a lecture on tax policy — they need a little breathing room. Maria supports tax relief that actually shows up in everyday life. Help with childcare, healthcare, school — the things people are already paying for.It’s not complicated. When working families have a little more to work with, it makes a difference.3. Close the Carried Interest LoopholeHedge fund managers pay a lower tax rate on their earnings than most middle-class workers because of a provision called “carried interest” that allows them to classify their income as investment gains rather than wages. This is indefensible. Maria will fight to close it.4. Make Investment Income Pay Its Fair SharePeople who earn their living through wages pay payroll taxes on every dollar. People who earn their living through investments largely do not. Maria supports reforming the tax treatment of investment income so that wealth is taxed at rates comparable to work — not at rates that reward having money over earning it.5. End Corporate Tax AvoidanceBig corporations have figured out how to move profits overseas and use loopholes so they pay far less in taxes than most working people. Maria supports closing those loopholes, cracking down on offshore tax shelters, and making sure corporations that profit from American workers and infrastructure actually pay their fair share.6. Raise the Minimum WageTax policy alone cannot fix economic inequality. Maria also supports raising the federal minimum wage so that work pays — reducing the need for government assistance and putting more money into the hands of people who will spend it in their local communities.7. Responsible Deficit ReductionMaria takes the national debt seriously — not as a talking point, but as a real long-term threat to American prosperity. She believes the path to fiscal responsibility runs through a fairer tax code that generates adequate revenue, not through cutting Social Security, Medicare, or programs that working families depend on. You cannot balance the budget by taking from people who have nothing left to give.8. Stop Unconstitutional TariffsThe current administration’s tariff policy is not tax reform — it is a hidden tax on every American family. Tariffs raise prices on goods that ordinary people buy every day, from groceries to appliances to clothing. And these tariffs are being imposed without Congressional approval, in violation of the Constitution. Maria will fight to reassert Congressional authority over trade policy and end the tariff chaos that is driving up costs for families across Ohio’s 14th.What Maria Will OpposeTax cuts for the wealthy disguised as broad-based reliefDeficit spending that benefits corporations and investors while cutting services for working peopleTax policy that punishes work while rewarding passive wealthComplexity that serves accountants and lobbyists at the expense of ordinary taxpayersThe Bigger PictureTax policy is ultimately a statement of values. When we decide who pays and who doesn’t, we are deciding what kind of country we want to be.Maria believes in a country where the person who works the hardest pays a fair rate — not a higher rate than someone whose money makes money while they sleep. She believes in a country where corporations that profit from American workers and American consumers contribute to the American common good. And she believes in a country where the tax code is written in plain English for ordinary people, not in fine print for lobbyists.That is the tax system Maria will fight to build.Campaign Finance & Ethics Reform: Giving Government Back to the PeopleThe Root of the ProblemMaria will tell you something that most politicians won’t:Almost every issue on this website — healthcare, Social Security, tax policy, the environment — has a known solution. The ideas are not the problem. The problem is that the people with the power to implement those solutions are financially dependent on the people who benefit from keeping things broken.That is not cynicism. That is the reality of American politics in 2026. And until we fix it, we cannot fully fix anything else.Special interests, corporate lobbyists, and billionaire donors spend billions of dollars every election cycle to ensure that Congress remains responsive to them — not to the teacher in Ashtabula, not to the small business owner in Mentor, not to the retiree in Warren living on Social Security.Maria is running to change that. And she is starting immediately with this campaign.Who Funds This CampaignMaria believes corporations shouldn’t have outsized influence in our democracy. That’s why she doesn’t accept corporate PAC money — no donations from corporate PACs, pharmaceutical companies, insurance corporations, or Wall Street banks.She does accept support from unions and community organizations that stand with working families. She’s building this campaign on small-dollar donations from real people — neighbors, coworkers, anyone who believes the 14th District deserves a representative who answers to them.This campaign is funded by people like you — not corporate PACs, not special interests. If you believe the 14th District deserves a representative who actually answers to them, even a small donation helps.The Scale of the ProblemThe American campaign finance system is broken in ways that most people feel, but few fully understand:The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate and special interest spending in elections — treating corporations as people and money as speechDark money — political spending by nonprofit organizations that are not required to disclose their donors — has poured billions of dollars into elections with zero transparency or accountabilitySuper PACs allow wealthy donors and corporations to spend unlimited amounts to influence elections, as long as they maintain a legal fiction of not coordinating directly with campaignsMembers of Congress spend an estimated 30 to 70 percent of their time on fundraising — time that should be spent governingLobbyists write legislation, fund campaigns, and then move through the revolving door between industry and government with virtually no restrictionsCongressional stock trad