Kucinich Looks Safe in Re-Election Fight

I am relieved to report that Kucinich appears safe for re-election in OH-10, according to a new survey from Public Policy Polling:

Kucinich does though appear safe to ward off the challenge he is facing from four challengers in the Democratic primary. Kucinich is currently at 55%, followed by Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman at 29%. The other three candidates register at 5% or lower.(...)

While self identified Democrats intend to reelect Kucinich by a wide margin (59-26), Republicans and independents who are planning to vote in the Democratic primary are not as enamored with him. He trails Cimperman 45-34 with independent voters and has just a 45-35 advantage with Republican voters.

PPP surveyed 470 likely Democratic primary voters on February 25th. The survey's margin of errors is +/-4.7%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.

Defeating an incumbent in a primary is just about the most difficult electoral challenge someone can undertake. Kucinich put himself in a potentially vulnerable position by spending so much time running for President, and by using his national small donor base to focus almost entirely on his Presidential campaign. If he was defeated, it would have damaged much of the momentum progressives earned from the Donna Edwards victory, but that does not appear to be a big worry now.