Former congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich took the first formal step Monday toward running for Ohio governor. If he joins the race, Kucinich will become the seventh Democrat seeking to replace Republican Gov. John Kasich, who faces a term limit.
Kucinich, 71, filed papers with the Ohio secretary of state's designating a campaign treasurer, Marguerite Harkness of Lakewood. Neither she nor Kucinich could immediately be reached.
An unabashed progressive, Kucinich was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1977, where he was widely derided for leading the city into default. After returning to elected office with the Ohio Senate in the early 1990s, in 1996 he was elected to the U.S. House and served until 2013. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.
Most recently, Kucinich campaigned last fall for an unsuccessful state ballot initiative that would have required state agencies to pay no more for prescription drugs than the Department of U.S. Veterans Affairs.
He joins a Democratic field that already includes Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, former U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray of Grove City, former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton of Copley, former state Rep. Connie Pillich of Montgomery, state Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Boardman and Ohio Supreme Court Justice William M. O'Neill.
Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper said the size of the field shows the energy that is animating the party.
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