JoeChalupa
03-07-2012, 08:55 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/07/marcy-kaptur-dennis-kucinich-ohio-primary_n_1325014.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008
WASHINGTON -- On Tuesday night, progressives confronted the unimaginable: Congress without Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). The eight-term congressman lost his primary election for Ohio's newly created 9th district to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio).
The loss also deprives the nation of a general election contest between two national polarizing figures, as one of the candidates in the district's GOP primary was Joe Wurzelbacher -- better known as "Joe the Plumber." The GOP race was still too close to call at the time of publishing.
Kaptur and Kucinich were victims of a congressional redistricting process that combined their seats. Because of the population losses recorded by the 2010 U.S. Census, Ohio lost two congressional districts and the borders of the remaining districts were redrawn. The new map combines the districts of Kaptur, who represents what is currently the 9th district, and Kucinich, who represents the 10th.
According to the count on the official Ohio secretary of state website, Kaptur had won four out of the five counties in the district, although not all of the ballots had been counted.
"I thought it was ours to win," she said, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but in her speech, she assured Kucinich's former constituents that she would "pay attention to them, too."
"I understand that it takes awhile for people to get used to you," she said.
Kucinich was elected mayor at the age of 31 and became known nationally as the "boy mayor of Cleveland." It was in that position that his well-earned reputation for what backers called principle, and enemies called stubborness, was born. It was the late '70s, and the finances of the city were in shambles, as they were across much of the country. Major banks approached the "boy mayor" with an offer they thought he couldn't refuse: privatize the local utility, Muni Light, or face bankruptcy. Kucinich wouldn't sell and the city went into default.
Predictably, his popularity plummeted, and Kucinich was tossed out of office two years after being sworn in. His political career apparently over, he languished professionally and personally. As the years wore on, however, and surrounding cities paid staggering costs for having privatized their own utilities, the people of Cleveland began to take another look at Kucinich. His refusal to sell out -- his willingness to take the political hit for what he believed in -- turned him into a retroactively popular figure. Later studies of Kucinich's decision confirmed that he saved the city and its ratepayers millions over the years.
~~Will he make another run at the POTUS?
WASHINGTON -- On Tuesday night, progressives confronted the unimaginable: Congress without Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). The eight-term congressman lost his primary election for Ohio's newly created 9th district to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio).
The loss also deprives the nation of a general election contest between two national polarizing figures, as one of the candidates in the district's GOP primary was Joe Wurzelbacher -- better known as "Joe the Plumber." The GOP race was still too close to call at the time of publishing.
Kaptur and Kucinich were victims of a congressional redistricting process that combined their seats. Because of the population losses recorded by the 2010 U.S. Census, Ohio lost two congressional districts and the borders of the remaining districts were redrawn. The new map combines the districts of Kaptur, who represents what is currently the 9th district, and Kucinich, who represents the 10th.
According to the count on the official Ohio secretary of state website, Kaptur had won four out of the five counties in the district, although not all of the ballots had been counted.
"I thought it was ours to win," she said, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but in her speech, she assured Kucinich's former constituents that she would "pay attention to them, too."
"I understand that it takes awhile for people to get used to you," she said.
Kucinich was elected mayor at the age of 31 and became known nationally as the "boy mayor of Cleveland." It was in that position that his well-earned reputation for what backers called principle, and enemies called stubborness, was born. It was the late '70s, and the finances of the city were in shambles, as they were across much of the country. Major banks approached the "boy mayor" with an offer they thought he couldn't refuse: privatize the local utility, Muni Light, or face bankruptcy. Kucinich wouldn't sell and the city went into default.
Predictably, his popularity plummeted, and Kucinich was tossed out of office two years after being sworn in. His political career apparently over, he languished professionally and personally. As the years wore on, however, and surrounding cities paid staggering costs for having privatized their own utilities, the people of Cleveland began to take another look at Kucinich. His refusal to sell out -- his willingness to take the political hit for what he believed in -- turned him into a retroactively popular figure. Later studies of Kucinich's decision confirmed that he saved the city and its ratepayers millions over the years.
~~Will he make another run at the POTUS?