Kucinich Emerges as Independent Candidate in Ohio

Dennis Kucinich, a former eight-term Democrat representative from Ohio and two-time presidential contender, said Wednesday he will run for his old seat in suburban Cleveland, this time as an independent.

Kucinich, 77, represented Ohio’s seventh congressional District from 1997 to 2012, when he lost a Democrat primary to Rep. Marcy Kaptur after redistricting. He will challenge for the seat held by Republican Rep. Max Miller.

Miller, a former aide to former President Donald Trump, defeated Democrat Matthew Diemer 55.3% to 44.5% in the 2022 midterm elections. Diemer has filed to run for the Democrat nomination again. In 2020, Donald Trump won the district with 65.3% of the vote over Joe Biden, according to Ballotpedia.

“Washington, D.C., today is a house divided by partisanship, by special interest groups and by war,” Kucinich said in a video on his campaign website. “Stark divisions are seen between the parties and within the political parties, often producing gridlock, which is dangerous to our national security.

“Members on both sides of the aisle are engaged in partisanship so bitter and so divisive that the American people are losing faith in their government. Partisan battles are diverting attention away from the real needs of our people. Service to our nation must be superior to service to a political party.”

Kucinich was Cleveland’s mayor from 1977-79 and served in the House from 1997 until redistricting forced him into the same district as Kaptur, who defeated him in the 2012 Democrat primary.

Kucinich, a former member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who filed impeachment resolutions against President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over the Iraq war, ran long-shot campaigns for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.

Kucinich was the campaign manager for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s bid to challenger President Joe Biden for the Democrat presidential nomination, but left the campaign in October when Kennedy switched to run as an independent.

“Matters of great economic importance to the American people – war, inflation, the deficit, the cost of food, shelter, energy, housing, childcare, education, and retirement security – are affecting every family,” Kucinich said. “The people’s economic concerns, national and border security, will be the focus of our campaign and my work in Congress.

“I’m uniquely able to reach in and help heal the partisan divide, to bring people together and to help reestablish the sense of unity, which is the essence of who we are as the United States.”