Cimperman to Run Against Kucinich
From the PD
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has just picked up another opponent. But not in his long-shot bid for the White House.
Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman will announce today that he is running for his fellow Democrat’s 10th Congressional seat, which includes the West Side of Cleveland and the city’s western suburbs.
Kucinich refuses to say if he plans to seek a seventh term next year; the filing deadline is a month away.
If Kucinich does run for re-election, Cimperman, who represents downtown Cleveland, will be Kucinich’s first serious challenger in either a primary or general election since he was elected to Congress in 1996.
To me, though I have nothing to substantiate it, this seems like a pretty strong indication that Kucinich won’t be running for re-election in the 10th. Cimperman has to know that he doesn’t have much name ID outside of his ward, let alone Cleveland proper (though, being the downtown councilman, he certainly could have some money lined up behind him, Sam Miller maybe?). But given that Cimperman has always been looked at as kind of like a Kucinich protege, I wonder if Cimperman might have been given a head’s up that DK isn’t running and by declaring now, he hopes to keep others (Dean DePiero?) out of the field.
A Cleveland city councilman? Yes, let’s get our Congressman from the team running the disaster dragging down the region. I hope suburban voters keep in mind how friendly Cleveland has been: high commuter taxes, red light cameras, parking tickets & trying to tell everyone where they can build interchanges.
In all fairness, Cimperman was opposed to the red light cameras (there are none in Ward 13) and he also opposed council’s plan to increase the time for feeding the parking meters from 6 pm to 10 pm.
Is DePiero in our out? If Cimperman is a Kucinich protege then is this some kind of scam to help protect Dennis from opposition?
Jack-
I’m not saying Cimperman is, in fact, a DK protege but that’s how it seems to be portrayed. I think Cimperman is in the race because 1) he’s been given inside info that DK isn’t going to run; 2) he’s speculating that DK isn’t running so he wants to be in there before a big name like DePiero; or 3) protecting DK from other opposition.
If DK runs, that’s already four people in the race. The anti-Kucinich vote would be split among three candidates rather than one, making it considerably more difficult for any of these challengers to win. Cimperman isn’t a fool, so I find it hard to believe he thinks he can a four person race.
Thanks for the analysis Greg. It should be very interesting. I want to see some polling like they do for the Pres. race.
Dennis vs. Trakas
Trakas vs. Ciperman
Trakas vs. DiPiero
Werner vs. the Easter Bunny
Who would win these races?
Jack-
It would be interesting.
As weird as it may sound, I think the only opponent Trakas would have a shot at is Kucinich. And that would be if enough Dems have soured on his antics and think that it’ll be easier to pick off Trakas in 2010 than it is to knock out Kucinich (which it probably would be). Against Cimperman or DePiero, Trakas would have a harder time (particularly against DePiero who’s portrayed as a moderate Dem).
As far as Werner vs. the Easter Bunny (lol, that was a good one), I’d lay money down on the Easter Bunny (and I’m not a gambler at all).
Cimperman has more name ID that one might think, given that he represents downtown and has been a notable exception within the inefficient/inept city council. And I doubt very seriously that he was given a “heads up” by Kucinich, given Cimperman’s comments about him in the PD article. Also, Kucinich has reportedly indicated a preference for State Rep. Mike Skindell (D-Lakewood) as a potential successor.
Dan-
Fair points all around. But I still find it hard to believe that your average Dem voter in Parma or Brook Park is going to know who Cimperman is.
I’ve also read where Kucinich has indicated a preference to Skindell, which could mean that Cimperman might merely be anticipating that DK might not run.
If nothing else, it makes for some interesting speculation.
Yes very interesting. Skindell might prefer Kucinich stay for one more term — he’s term limited in ‘10, and if Democrats take the Ohio House in ‘08, Skindell will be a likely Speaker candidate.
Why does Cimperman believe the 10th District wants a Congressman that lives in the 11th District? Home address: 3053 W 12TH ST, CLEVELAND OH 44113-5261 For the ZIP code area 44113-5261, the Representative is: Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D) Ohio 11th