Kucinich Rules Out Congressional Bid in Washington State

In an e-mail to supporters earlier today, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio ruled out a possible bid for a seat in the U.S. House from the state of Washington.

A number of the eight-term Ohio congressman’s friends and supporters in Bellingham, Olympia and Seattle — many of whom had supported his principled, antiwar campaigns for the White House in 2004 and 2008 — were urging him to consider running in one of the state’s 10 congressional districts before Friday’s filing deadline.

The Ohio congressman had been a frequent visitor to the state and had long toyed with the idea of running there.

Kucinich, whose relatively safe Cleveland-based congressional seat was eliminated due to redistricting, was defeated by fellow Democrat Marcy Kaptur in Ohio’s March 6 primary, losing to the longtime Toledo Democrat by a count of 42,902 to 30,564 in the state’s newly-redrawn 9^th congressional district.

In announcing his decision, the 65-year-old progressive lawmaker said that he believed that he could be more effective outside the halls of Congress.

“After careful consideration and discussions with Elizabeth and my closest friends, I have decided that, at this time, I can best serve from outside the Congress,” wrote Kucinich.   “My commitments to peace, to workers’ rights and to social and economic justice are constant and are not dependent upon holding an office.”