Dennis John Kucinich ( ; October 8, 1946) is an American politician. Originally a Democrat, Kucinich served as U.S. representative from Ohio's 10th congressional district from 1997 to 2013. From 1977 to 1979, he served a term as mayor of Cleveland, where he narrowly survived a recall election and successfully fought an effort to sell the municipal electric utility before losing his reelection contest to George Voinovich.
Considered one of the most politically liberal members of Congress during his tenure, Kucinich unsuccessfully ran for president in the 2004 and 2008 Democratic primaries. During his 2004 presidential campaign, he ran as a staunch opponent of the Iraq War, garnering him support among some anti-war activists. Despite not winning a single primary contest, Kucinich was the last opponent of eventual nominee John Kerry to drop out.
As a 2008 presidential candidate, Kucinich ran in support of single-payer health care, the impeachment of then-Vice President Dick Cheney, and the establishment of a "Department of Peace". He dropped out early during the 2008 primary contest after faring poorly in early states. During his final two terms in Congress, Kucinich at times criticized then-President Barack Obama, and argued in favor of Obama's impeachment following the 2011 military intervention in Libya.
As a result of redistricting following the 2010 census, redrawn congressional boundaries forced Kucinich to face Representative Marcy Kaptur in the newly-drawn 9th district. Kaptur defeated Kucinich in the Democratic primary, and Kucinich left office in 2013. In January 2013, he became a contributor on the Fox News Channel appearing on programs such as The O'Reilly Factor. He ran for governor of Ohio in the 2018 election, losing in the primary to Richard Cordray. Kucinich was also an unsuccessful primary candidate in the 2021 Cleveland mayoral election. He ran for Ohio's 7th congressional district as an independent in 2024 and finished third, garnering 13% of the vote.
Early life and education Kucinich was born in Cleveland's West Side Tremont neighborhood, the oldest of the seven children of Virginia (née Norris) and Frank J. Kucinich."About Dennis Kucinich." Dennis for President. July 24, 2007 His father, who was of Croat ancestry, worked as a truck driver and was a member of the Teamsters for 35 years; his Irish American mother was a homemaker. Growing up, his family moved 21 times and Dennis was often charged with the responsibility of finding apartments they could afford.
Kucinich graduated from St. John Cantius High School in 1965. He attended Cleveland State University from 1967 to 1970. In 1973, he graduated from Case Western Reserve University with both a Bachelor and a Master of Arts degree in speech and communication."About Dennis." Congressman Dennis Kucinich. July 25, 2007
Early political career Kucinich's political career began in 1967 when he ran unsuccessfully for office. In 1969, he was elected to the Cleveland City Council at the age of 23. In 1972, Kucinich ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, losing narrowly to incumbent Republican William E. Minshall Jr. After Minshall's retirement in 1974, Kucinich sought the seat again, this time failing to get the Democratic nomination, which went to Ronald M. Mottl. Kucinich ran as an Independent candidate in the general election, placing third with about 30% of the vote. In 1975, Kucinich became clerk of the municipal court in Cleveland and served in that position for two years.
Mayoralty (1977–1979)
Kucinich was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1977 and served in that position until 1979.The Encyclopedia Of Cleveland History by Cleveland Bicentennial Commission (Cleveland, Ohio), David D. Van Tassel (Editor), and John J. Grabowski (Editor) At age 31, he was the youngest mayor of a major city in the United States, earning him the nickname "the boy mayor of Cleveland". Kucinich's tenure as mayor is often regarded as one of the most tumultuous in Cleveland's history.The Plain Dealer, August 1, 1999. Our Century: 'Boy Mayor' Leads Battle Into Default by Fred McGunagle.The Crisis of Growth Politics: Cleveland, Kucinich, and the Challenge of Urban Populism by Todd Swanstrom
After Kucinich refused to sell Municipal Light (now Cleveland Public Power), Cleveland's publicly owned electric utility, the Cleveland mafia sought to murder him in a contract killing. A hit man from Maryland planned to shoot him in the head during the Columbus Day Parade, but the plot fell apart when Kucinich was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer and missed the event. When the city fell into default shortly thereafter, the Mafia leaders called off the contract killer.
In 1984, John F. Sopko, then assistant counsel to the Minority Subcommittee staff, testified to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, "Intelligence information gleaned by the Maryland State Police and Cleveland Police Department confirmed that the murder contract was, in general terms, due to the fact that Kucinich had caused considerable problems for local dishonest businessmen, politicians and criminals." Sopko said, "It was alleged that Kucinich had been impeding organized criminal activities and its ability to make money in the city. As a result, someone decided to do away with the mayor."
The Cleveland Trust Company suddenly required all the city's debts be paid in full, forcing the city into default, after news of Kucinich's refusal to sell the city utility. For years, these debts were routinely rolled over, pending future payment, until Kucinich's announcement was made public. In 1998, the Cleveland City Council honored him for having had the "courage and foresight" to stand up to the banks, which saved the city an estimated $195 million between 1985 and 1995.'Boy Mayor' Kucinich Took Charge in Utility Debt Crisis, From LA Times, January 23, 2003
Post-mayoralty
After losing his reelection bid for mayor to George Voinovich in 1979, Kucinich initially kept a low profile in Cleveland politics. He criticized a tax referendum Voinovich proposed in 1980, which voters eventually approved. He also struggled to find employment and moved to Los Angeles, where he stayed with a friend, actress Shirley MacLaine. For the next three years, Kucinich worked as a radio talk-show host, lecturer, and consultant. It was a difficult period for him financially. Without a steady paycheck, Kucinich fell behind in his mortgage payments, nearly lost his house in Cleveland, and borrowed money from friends, including MacLaine, to keep it. On his 1982 income tax return, Kucinich reported an income of $38. Of this period, Kucinich has said, "When I was growing up in Cleveland, my early experience conditioned me to hang in there and not to quit... It's one thing to experience that as a child, but when you have to as an adult, it has a way to remind you how difficult things can be. You understand what people go through."
In 1982, Kucinich moved back to Cleveland and ran for Secretary of State; he lost the Democratic primary to Sherrod Brown. In 1983, Kucinich won a special election to fill the seat of a Cleveland city councilman who had died. His brother, Gary Kucinich, was also a councilman at the time.
In 1985, there was some speculation that Kucinich might run for mayor again. Instead, his brother Gary ran against (and lost to) the incumbent Voinovich. Kucinich, meanwhile, gave up his council position to run for governor of Ohio as an independent against Richard Celeste, but later withdrew from the race. After this, Kucinich, in his own words "on a quest for meaning," lived quietly in New Mexico until 1994, when he won a seat in the Ohio State Senate.
United States Representative (1997–2013)
In 1996, Kucinich was elected to represent Ohio's 10th district in the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating two-term Republican incumbent Martin Hoke by three percentage points. He never faced another general election contest that close and was reelected seven times.
Committee assignments Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending (Ranking Member)
Kucinich served as chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus from 1999 to 2003, after founding chair Bernie Sanders, and was succeeded by Peter DeFazio.
Kucinich was one of the 31 House Democrats who voted to not count the 20 electoral votes from Ohio in the 2004 presidential election, despite Republican president George Bush winning the state by 118,457 votes.
Domestic policy voting record In 2008, Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment in the House of Representatives against President George W. Bush for the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Although his voting record was not always in line with that of the Democratic Party, on March 17, 2010, after being courted by President Barack Obama, his wife and others, Kucinich reluctantly agreed to vote with his colleagues for the Affordable Care Act, even without a public option component.
Kucinich criticized the flag-burning amendment and voted against the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. His congressional voting record was strongly anti-abortion, although he has noted that he never supported a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion altogether. In 2003, however, he began describing himself as pro-abortion rights and said he had shifted away from his earlier position.Marc Sandalow, "Ohio Presidential Hopeful Pivots Over to Pro-Choice Camp ", San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 2003. Press releases indicated that he supported abortion rights, ending abstinence-only sex education and increasing the use of contraception to make abortion "less necessary" over time. His voting record since 2003 received mixed ratings from abortion rights groups.
Presidential campaigns 2004
Kucinich was criticized during his 2004 campaign for changing his stance on the issue of abortion. His explanation was, "I've always worked to make abortions less necessary, through sex education and birth control. But the direction that Congress has taken, increasingly, is to make it impossible for women to be able to have an abortion if they need to protect their health. So when I saw the direction taken, it finally came to the point where I understood that women will not be truly free unless they have the right to choose."Democratic 2004 Primary Presidential Debate in Durham, New Hampshire, December 9, 2003.
On December 10, 2003, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) announced the removal of its correspondents from the campaigns of Kucinich, Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton."Kucinich & Braun Blast ABC For Reducing Campaign Coverage." Democracy Now! December 12, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2007. Previously critical of the limited coverage given his campaign, Kucinich characterized ABC's decision as an example of media companies' power to shape campaigns by choosing which candidates to cover and questioned its timing, coming immediately after the debate. ABC News, while stating its commitment to give coverage to a wide range of candidates, argued that focusing more of its "finite resources" on the candidates most likely to win would best serve the public.