Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio)

In 1972, Kucinich was the Democratic nominee against Rep. William Minshall (R-Ohio) in Ohio's 23rd Congressional District. He lost narrowly, 49 to 47 percent. Two years later, Minshall retired, but Kucinich lost the Democratic primary to Ronald Motti, coming in third with 29 percent. He ran as an independent in the general election, gathering 30 percent of the vote.

Cleveland Mayoralty

In 1977, Kucinich ran for Cleveland mayor. He attacked incumbent Republican Mayor Ralph Perk for planning to sell the city's publicly-owned electric company Muny Light. In the mayoral primary, Perk came in third behind Kucinich and state Rep. Edward Feighan, who Kucinich defeated 51 to 49 percent in the runoff. He became mayor at age 31.

Intent on denouncing ''corporate greed,'' Kucinich clashed with the city's banks and business interests. He also developed a rough relationship with the city council. Compounding matters was the poor fiscal situation he inherited; at the outset of his tenure, auditors discovered that more than $40 million was missing from the city's bond fund. This endangered Cleveland's ability to pay off its debts.

Kucinich's decision to fire Police Chief Richard Hongisto triggered an effort to oust him that was nearly successful. Just nine months after his mayoral victory, he survived a recall election by just 256 votes out of more than 120 000 cast.

But Kucinich's respite was temporary. The city was struggling to pay the $15 million it owed to six Cleveland banks.

The banks demanded that Kucinich agree to sell Muny Light, the city's electric utility, in exchange for them extending the loans. But Kucinich refused.

He had long made Muny Light an emblem of his fight against "monopoly interests" and he accused the banks of helping the privately-owned Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. (CEI) to enrich themselves. (A congressional report later found support for Kucinich's accusations. In particular, a majority of CEI directors also sat on the boards of the banks that were demanding that Cleveland sell Muny Light.))

Kucinich's refusal to sell Muny Light led the Cleveland mafia to place a hit on him. An elaborate plot to shoot the mayor during the Columbus Day Parade failed when Kucinich could not attend the event.

On December 15th, 1978, Cleveland was unable to meet its payments. It became the first major American city to default since the Great Depression.

In 1979, Kucinich lost his reelection race to Republican George Voinovich, 56 to 44 percent. Voinovich, who would later become governor and U.S. senator, campaigned on a promise to restore harmony.

A Slow Comeback

After his loss, Kucinich briefly lived in California and worked as a radio talk-show host. He returned to Ohio in 1982 to run for secretary of state, but he lost in the Democratic primary to then-state Rep. Sherrod Brown, 34 to 27 percent. (Brown later became U.S. senator.)

In 1983, Kucinich won a seat on the Cleveland City Council, beating a candidate who had the support not just of Mayor Voinovich but also of prominent Democrats. But rather than seek re-election in 1985, Kucinich chose to run for Governor as an independent. He eventually withdrew from the race.

In 1988, Kucinich unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Mary Rose Oakar in the Democratic primary for Ohio's 20th Congressional District, losing 77 to 23 percent. In 1992, he lost yet another Democratic primary - this time for Ohio's 19th district. He came in third with 18 percent of the vote, just 6 percentage points behind winner Eric Fingerhut.

Kucinich finally tasted victory in 1994. In a catastrophic year for his party, he beat the tide by defeating an incumbent Republican state senator.

His campaign slogan was "because he was right." Indeed, Cleveland had just announced an expansion of its electricity utility, which had proven successful in providing low-cost electricity and saving the city money. Kucinich thus claimed his decision not to sell Muny Light had been vindicated. He drew praise from some of his former adversaries.

1996 House Race

In 1996, Kucinich challenged two-term Rep. Martin Hoke (R-Ohio) in Ohio's 10th district, a swing seat based around Cleveland. In the hotly contested campaign, Hoke attacked Kucinich for letting Cleveland go into default while Kucinich took credit for saving the municipal-electric system. Kucinich, who benefited from heavy help from the AFL-CIO, defeated Hoke 49 to 46 percent.

In 1998, the Cleveland Council honored Kucinich for having had the "courage and foresight" not to sell the electricity utility in 1978. It had saved the city an estimated $195 million between 1985 and 1995.

Presidential Runs

Kucinich ran for president in 2004, positioning himself as a staunchly anti-war voice at a time Democrats were still worried about opposing the Iraq war. "My presence in the race provides a persistent reminder of the necessity of taking a new direction, the first step of which is to bring our troops home now," he said.

He finished near the bottom of the pack in most of the early contests, including receiving 1 percent in the New Hampshire primary. His best showings came in the February 8th Maine caucuses (16 percent), the February 24th Hawaii caucuses (31 percent), and the May 18th Oregon primary (16 percent). Kucinich was the last candidate to drop out of the Democratic primaries, as he continued campaigning long after John Kerry secured the party's nomination in an effort to shape "the future direction of the Democratic Party."

In December 2006, Kucinich announced he would mount a second presidential run in the 2008 election, citing Democratic leaders' continued support for funding the Iraq war. He also focused his campaign on calling for a single-payer health-care plan.

On the day of the Iowa caucuses, at which a candidate needs to receive 15 percent to receive delegates, Kucinich asked his supporters to realign for Barack Obama if they failed to form a viable preference group. A few days later, Kucinich received just 1.35 percent in the New Hampshire primary. He withdrew from the race on January 24th.

In the House

Kucinich won re-election with at least 60 perecent of the vote from 1998 to 2010, when he only received 53 percent of the vote.

During House Democrats' stint in the majority, Kucinich chaired the House Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy subcommittee. In the 112th Congress, Kucinich is the ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending.

With Ohio set to lose two seats due to slow population growth, Kucinich's district is expected to be drawn out of existence. While early expectations were that Kucinich would be thrown in a Democratic primary against fellow Democratic Rep. Betty Sutton, he is reportedly considering running for Washington state's new House seat instead. "I don't have anywhere I can run in Ohio, he said. "I have to start thinking about what my options are."

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