Kucinich to Challenge Fellow Dem Lawmaker in Ohio

Dennis Kucinich announced Wednesday that he will challenge fellow Democrat and House colleague Marcy Kaptur for a redrawn Ohio district in 2012.

Ohio is set to lose two congressional seats thanks to the 2010 Census, and a redrawn congressional map in the Buckeye State has left Republicans well positioned to cement their hold on the state and Democratic incumbents scrambling to keep their jobs. The new district that Kucinich and Kaptur will fight for contains portions of the pair’s previous districts.

Kucinich had publicly considered making a run for a seat in Washington state and had also reportedly weighed running against another sitting Ohio congresswoman, Marcia Fudge. But ultimately he opted to go head-to-head with Kaptur, who is currently the longest-serving female in the House of Representatives. The new district where the two will face off contains more of Kaptur’s current constituents than Kucinich's, according to The Hill.

While the Democratic primary is expected to be a tough fight, whichever candidate emerges as the winner is expected to have a relatively easy go of it in the general election given the new district's strong Democratic ties. The general election fight may, however, still generate its fair share of headlines given that Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, is running for the GOP nomination.