OH-10: Kucinich to Receive a Major Primary Challenge?

by: James L.

Thu May 17, 2007 at 11:37 AM EDT

Dean DePiero, the popular mayor of Parma, Ohio's seventh largest city, said last week that he is considering challenging Kucinich, a six-term congressman from Lakewood, in next year's March 4 primary election. DePiero, former minority leader of the Ohio House, will be unopposed for a new four-year mayoral term in November and could run from cover against Kucinich.

Cleveland-area political observers say that many residents of the 10th District are fed up with Kucinich's quixotic quests for the presidency and grouse that he does not pay sufficient attention to the district. Even so, DePiero admitted that Kucinich would be difficult to beat in a primary in the district, which includes most of the west side of Cleveland and the western and southern suburbs in Cuyahoga County.

As the current mayor of Parma, Dean DePiero leads the largest suburb of Cleveland.  He also served as the Democratic Minority Leader in the state House before his election as mayor in 2004.  Should he decide to run, DePiero would give Kucinich his first major primary challenge in years, but it's not yet clear how vulnerable Kucinich would be to such a campaign.  One thing's for sure, though: Dennis' Presidential aspirations would certainly be complicated if he had to spend his time battling in Cuyahoga County instead of Des Moines and Manchester.  I'm not yet on the bandwagon, but I am intrigued.  And by the looks of it, so are the Buckeye Staters.

Race Tracker: OH-10