Dennis Kucinich Loses Primary

[Maraxus]

Reps. Kucinich, Schmidt fall in Ohio
By: Alex Isenstadt
March 7, 2012 12:17 AM EST

Two incumbents were defeated in the dramatic opening night of the 2012 House campaign season.

Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur defeated fellow Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich in the 9th District, a loss that will likely bring the longtime liberal congressman’s Capitol Hill career to an end.

And in southern Ohio, Brad Wenstrup, a surgeon and Iraq war veteran, scored an upset victory over GOP Rep. Jean Schmidt, a third-term lawmaker who has come under ethical scrutiny in recent months.

With 99 percent of the vote counted, Wenstrup led Schmidt 48 to 42 percent. With 78 percent of the vote in, Kaptur held a commanding lead over Kucinich, 58 to 37 percent.

The Kaptur vs. Kucinich race marked the first member vs. member clash of the 2012 election season. After the Republican-led redistricting process came to a conclusion in Ohio, Kaptur and Kucinich, who for years were allies, found themselves drawn into the same northeast Ohio district.

The race pitted two veteran Ohio pols against each other. Kaptur, a 15-term member of the House Appropriations Committee, is the longest-serving female in the House. Kucinich, a former Cleveland mayor who was elected in 1996, has a political career that stretches back to 1969, when he was elected to the Cleveland City Council.

The contest turned nasty — and personal. Kaptur accused Kucinich, who waged two unsuccessful presidential bids, of focusing on building his national profile and ditching northeast Ohio. She also slammed Kucinich for making forays into Washington state, where last year he was reportedly considering whether to relocate and launch a 2012 reelection bid.

Kucinich, who has long opposed military spending, bashed Kaptur for voting to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kaptur had been widely considered the favorite in the race because she had previously represented more of the newly-drawn 9th District, which stretched from Toledo to Cleveland.

In waging her bid, Kaptur sought to make inroads in Kucinich’s Cleveland base, traveling from her Toledo home to campaign in the city that was the launching pad for the congressman’s political career.

During the final weeks of the race, Kucinich, who boasts a national following, attracted a series of celebrities and prominent liberals to campaign on his behalf. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons stumped with him in the new district. Former Florida Rep. Alan Grayson raised money for him. He won an endorsement from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kucinich had long been seen as a likely casualty of redistricting. With Ohio losing two seats in line-drawing, the Ohio Democrat began alerting supporters over a year ago that Republicans were likely to target him.

Kucinich’s career in the House may not be over, however. During an interview with POLITICO last week, Andy Juniewicz, Kucinich’s longtime spokesman and political strategist, refused to knock down repeated questions over whether the congressman would run for reelection in Washington state.

Kucinich would have time to decide whether to run there: Washington’s filing deadline isn’t until May 18. Three of the state’s 10 congressional seats are vacant this year.

Last year, Kucinich made a series of campaign-style trips to the state, which led to speculation that he was planning on running there instead of in Ohio.

Schmidt’s loss followed a series of negative headlines surrounding an investigation conducted by the Office of Congressional Ethics, which examined whether she received free legal services from the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund in her protracted courtroom fight against her 2008 Democratic opponent, David Krikorian. Last May, the OCE referred the case to the House ethics committee.

Wenstrup hammered Schmidt relentlessly over the investigation, calling her tainted. He was joined in the effort by the Campaign for Primary Accountability, a bipartisan Super PAC that has been opposing incumbents in primaries. The group ran ads targeting Schmidt.

The Ohio congresswoman had long struggled in primaries. After being elected in an August 2005 special election, Schmidt survived a 2006 GOP race with just 48 percent of the vote — a treacherous margin for an incumbent. She fared better in her 2008 and 2010 primaries, scoring 58 percent and 62 percent of the vote, respectively, against underfunded GOP opponents.

There were several other key congressional races on the ballot Tuesday evening. Former Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, a Democrat who lost her seat in the 2010 GOP wave, fell short in a comeback bid. Kilroy, who had received the financial support of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, lost to former state House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty in the race for a newly-drawn, Democratic-friendly seat in Columbus.

And Samuel Wurzelbacher — a.k.a. Joe the Plumber of campaign 2008 fame — held a narrow lead over Steve Kraus, an obscure auctioneer who raised and spent less than $10,000, in the GOP race to tackle the winner of the Kaptur vs. Kucinich battle.

The House Democrats lose their resident Don Quixote. I can't really say that I'm sad to see him go. I liked his policy stances and agreed with him more often than not, but he was an ineffective legislator who seemed more concerned with himself than actually passing quality legislation. The fact that he whipped votes for the Ohio Republican's gerrymander and essentially screwed his party to give himself a safe seat made me glad to see him go.

[Simon_Jester]

Well, personally I'd hope that Kucinich doesn't give up in politics, mostly because I don't think we can afford to lose voices like his.

[Sea Skimmer]

I for one still think his attempt to ban chemtrails and tectonic weapons was his best legislative effort ever. But yeah, in general its good to have people like him around even if we all know were going to ignore them as hard as we can.

[Col. Crackpot]

As accomplished as he was, Kucinich forgot Tip O'neil's wise old adage that all politics is local. Openly considering a relocation to a safe blue seat in another state sealed his fate.

[TimothyC]

He lost his seat because two people had to lose their seats, and like heck the republicans (who controlled the process) were going to get rid of two majority republican seats.

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah, math would be good.

I'd settle for mandating that the borders be either straight or follow county lines (so you can chop a county into halves or thirds or whatever, but you can't make jigsaw puzzles), or that there is some maximum allowed ratio of border length to internal area to force the districts to be more or less round-ish.

As accomplished as he was, Kucinich forgot Tip O'neil's wise old adage that all politics is local. Openly considering a relocation to a safe blue seat in another state sealed his fate.

You people are completely full of shit.

What this shows is if you take an honest politician with integrity and principles, and just lie about him enough, people buy the horseshit.

Dennis didn't lose here though. America did.

Uh, I don't think Crackpot's comment is necessarily horseshit. I mean, you may argue that Kucinich is a supremely good and honorable man, but that doesn't mean he can't mess up his tactics or say something that pisses people off and makes them not want him as their representative.

[Lord Zentei]

I'd really like to see some new way of drawing the district maps. Gerrymandering is just about as old as the country itself, but it needs to change.

The way I'd do it is define a set of math based rules, so anybody can sit down with a population map and a calculator and draw the same lines. For example, start in the north-west most part of the state and draw squares. Set them so an equal number of people live in each square (of course, they won't be squares for long as you account for population distribution, but they won't be fucking salamanders either).

Good luck with convincing the parties to go along with that idea. You might have a better chance doing away with districts entirely in certain states, and just go for proportional representation instead and move on from there (though that might screw over certain areas where politicians are less likely to campaign, especially in large states).

[Thanas]

Typical USA choice - when the choice is between a liberal or a military supporter, chose the latter.

[UnderAGreySky]

I'm curious, Thanas, on your assertion that his opponent was chosen because he was a military supporter. Any reason why you would think so?

[Phantasee]

I'm greatly saddened by this news. I wish I had the chance to vote for a man like Dennis Kucinich.

[ArmorPierce]

So what's with the hate for dennis kucinich? If it were him vs obama I would choose him. He was the only one who dared attempt to impeach bush, the only democrat to vote against invading iraq, stood against obama and demanded universal healthcare, voted against the patriot act.

I agree with data. America lost for never taking this man more seriously.

[Thanas]

So what's with the hate for dennis kucinich? If it were him vs obama I would choose him. He was the only one who dared attempt to impeach bush, the only democrat to vote against invading iraq, stood against obama and demanded universal healthcare, voted against the patriot act.

All of the above are reasons why Americans hate Dennis Kucinich. It's funny - he would be a center candidate in Europe, but in the USA he is the ULTIMATE LEFTIST.

[Rahvin]

I'm greatly saddened by this news. I wish I had the chance to vote for a man like Dennis Kucinich.

Agreed. I was extremely disappointed when he dropped out of the Presidential primaries.

[Silver Jedi]

All of the above are reasons why Americans hate Dennis Kucinich. It's funny - he would be a center candidate in Europe, but in the USA he is the ULTIMATE LEFTIST.

I'm curious. I hear this about american politicians all the time. What views or policy positions does he hold that pull him to the center? I don't disbelieve you, I guess I'm just not familiar enough with European politics.

[Thanas]

Well, for one he does not propose abolishing the capitalist system. That alone leaves him out of the leftist side of things in Europe. As he does not call for a basic income regardless of wealth, he also would not fit in with most of the center-left parties in Europe.

A center candidate in Europe is one who:
- is against military intervention unless there are human rights violations
- is in favor of a strictly-regulated market economy with socialist programs like free health insurance for all
- is in favor of a welfare state with some reforms

Kucinich fits all of these.

[UnderAGreySky]

I'm sorry, I *did* mean she. Don't know how that got left out.

I'm not saying she is funded by the defence folk, my question is on what basis is the assertion made that people voted for her because they wanted (and I quote Thanas) a "military supporter"?

[Col. Crackpot]

Yeah, math would be good.

I'd settle for mandating that the borders be either straight or follow county lines (so you can chop a county into halves or thirds or whatever, but you can't make jigsaw puzzles), or that there is some maximum allowed ratio of border length to internal area to force the districts to be more or less round-ish.

As accomplished as he was, Kucinich forgot Tip O'neil's wise old adage that all politics is local. Openly considering a relocation to a safe blue seat in another state sealed his fate.

You people are completely full of shit.

What this shows is if you take an honest politician with integrity and principles, and just lie about him enough, people buy the horseshit.

Dennis didn't lose here though. America did.

Uh, I don't think Crackpot's comment is necessarily horseshit. I mean, you may argue that Kucinich is a supremely good and honorable man, but that doesn't mean he can't mess up his tactics or say something that pisses people off and makes them not want him as their representative.

which is precisely my point. I respect Dennis Kucinich and feel that he serves an important role in our democracy. I'd never vote for him but that is besides the point. He made a grave error in so openly considering a move to another state to secure a pulpit for his own ideas and not serving the needs of his district who put him in power and kept him there for so long. That causes his support base to question what is more important to him, him or the people he supports. He stepped on his dick and has himself to blame. At least partially. Sadly congress and the national discourse suffers because of it. And that is the last compliment i will pay to the Honorable Mr. Dennis Kucinich so write it down.

[Simon_Jester]

In fairness, Crackpot, D-XIII is right: his district was moved out from under him. This makes "serving the needs of his district" rather difficult, seeing as how it has ceased to exist.

Openly thinking of moving may have been impolitic, especially since he decided not to follow through and actually do it. But he can't be criticized for not serving something that wasn't there.

[Sea Skimmer]

Yeah, math would be good.

I'd settle for mandating that the borders be either straight or follow county lines (so you can chop a county into halves or thirds or whatever, but you can't make jigsaw puzzles), or that there is some maximum allowed ratio of border length to internal area to force the districts to be more or less round-ish.

The problem with that idea is you'd have lots and lots of places in which an urban center endlessly dominates everyone around it. People don't like that.

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah, math would be good.

I'd settle for mandating that the borders be either straight or follow county lines (so you can chop a county into halves or thirds or whatever, but you can't make jigsaw puzzles), or that there is some maximum allowed ratio of border length to internal area to force the districts to be more or less round-ish.

The problem with that idea is you'd have lots and lots of places in which an urban center endlessly dominates everyone around it. People don't like that.

Yeah, and I expect urban centers don't like it when someone draws a big loop around their city with enough rural and exurban voters to just barely outnumber them, and get their votes diluted into irrelevance by having that loop chopped up into pie slices. I'm not at all convinced that letting urban centers have a bit more of a voice in American politics would be a bad thing.

More seriously, there'd still be nothing stopping you from chopping a city in half and sticking half in each district under the rule I have in mind. It's just these bizarre tortured jigsaws that need to go, because they serve no practical purpose except to create custom-tailored districts for individual politicians, at the expense of any interest the current majority doesn't care about.

[Gandalf]

I'm not at all convinced that letting urban centers have a bit more of a voice in American politics would be a bad thing.

Since those urban centres would have more people in them, wouldn't not giving them more power contradict the idea of "government of/for/by the people"?

[Lonestar]

Since those urban centres would have more people in them, wouldn't not giving them more power contradict the idea of "government of/for/by the people"?

Ever hear of the phrase "Tyranny of the Majority"?


Incidentally, one thing Virginia has right is the constiutional stipulation that districts be "Compact and uniform". You can see what they look like here. Now compare them to, say, Maryland's districts.


So, it is possible to have districts that aren't gerrymandered to hell.

[Gandalf]

Since those urban centres would have more people in them, wouldn't not giving them more power contradict the idea of "government of/for/by the people"?

Ever hear of the phrase "Tyranny of the Majority"?

Yes I have.

Thanks for asking.

[weemadando]

Functional bicameral parliaments are a mystery to some.

[Simon_Jester]

Since those urban centres would have more people in them, wouldn't not giving them more power contradict the idea of "government of/for/by the people"?

Ever hear of the phrase "Tyranny of the Majority"?

The limits on tyranny of the majority come from constitutional rights, checks and balances, and the ability of the minority to delay actions in Congress. They do not come from deliberately jiggering the election districts so as to give the minority the same number of Congressmen that the majority gets, or from watering down the majority so half of them might as well not bother casting a vote for all the good it does them. Something like one third of Americans live in the cities, about one third in the suburbs, and about one third far enough from the cities to be rural...ish.

Any reasonable balance of power should require those three groups to forge alliances among themselves- having the support of the nation's chicken farmers should not count for more than having the support of its taxi drivers, or vice versa.

Incidentally, one thing Virginia has right is the constiutional stipulation that districts be "Compact and uniform". You can see what they look like here. Now compare them to, say, Maryland's districts.

So, it is possible to have districts that aren't gerrymandered to hell.

Yes. In this, Virginia is definitely doing better than Maryland. Or a lot of other states.

Although looking at it, it wouldn't take that much to straighten out Maryland's situation. The main problem is the way the 2nd, 3rd, and 7th districts are jigsaw-puzzled so as to catch different rings of the Baltimore suburbs.

Functional bicameral parliaments are a mystery to some.

You Australian guys cheated and cunningly waited to write your constitution after seeing what we'd done wrong... heh.

Of course, we have no excuse for managing to screw up things the British got right. If only it had been politically possible to make drawing congressional districts the responsibility of a federal agency, like the Census...