Joe the Plumber elected to party office in Ohio

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Joe the Plumber is plunging into party politics.

Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher, who was hailed by Republican John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008, won one of nearly 400 seats on the local Republican Party committee in Ohio's Lucas County.

But don't call him Joe the Politician just yet.

The group he'll serve on meets only a few times a year to elect the county chairman and sets the party agenda. Wurzelbacher won the seat by a 38-24 vote Tuesday in his suburban Toledo precinct.

He became an overnight sensation almost two years ago after questioning then-Sen. Barack Obama on the campaign trail about his economic policies and then when McCain repeatedly cited "Joe the Plumber" in a debate.

He was held up by the GOP as an example of the middle-class worker who would be hurt economically by an Obama presidency.