Kucinich in Trouble: Strapped for Cash in Re-Election Fight

Dennis Kucinich might be in trouble for re-nomination to Congress, if fundraising is any indication:

Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman raised nearly five times as much money last year as incumbent Dennis Kucinich in their 10th Congressional District race, according to financial disclosure reports filed Thursday.

Kucinich, who has spent the past year running for president, raised $47,000 - a third of which was raised in the last three months of 2007. The filing period runs through Dec. 31.

Most of Cimperman's $228,000 in contributions came from lawyers, developers, bankers and business associates. Forest City Enterprises' Ratner family contributed $11,000, and $13,800 came from the Goldberg family, who are affiliated with AmTrust Bank, the former Ohio Savings Bank. About 40 people gave Cimperman the maximum amount of $2,300, including Scott Wolstein, head of Developers Diversified Realty Corp. and lead developer of the Flats East Bank neighborhood; Legacy Village developer Mitch Schneider; event promoter Mike Belkin; and Republican investor Jeff Jacobs.

At the same time, it needs to be said that the main criteria for a successful primary challenge is for the incumbent to not take care of his or her district. If the member of Congress being challenged is home a lot, stays connected to activists on the ground, listens to voters, and conducts good constituent services, that member of Congress will be virtually impossible to defeat in a primary no matter the ideological differences s/he has with the voters of the district. Given that he decided to engage in a second quixotic run for President instead of taking care of his district, Kucinich might be in some real trouble. Kucinich brought the opening for a primary challenge upon himself by running for President again.