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Dennis Kucinich Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Here is a look at the life of Dennis Kucinich, former Ohio congressman.

Personal

Birth date: October 8, 1946

Birth place: Cleveland, Ohio

Birth name: Dennis John Kucinich

Father: Frank Kucinich, truck driver

Mother: Virginia (Norris) Kucinich

Marriages: Elizabeth (Harper) Kucinich (2005-present); Sandra Kucinich (1977-1986, divorced); Helen Kucinich (divorced)

Children: with Sandra Kucinich-Horn: Jackie

Education: Case Western Reserve University, B.A., 1973, and M.A., 1974

Religion: Roman Catholic

Other Facts

Is a vegan.

Against the war in Iraq and proposed creating a federal department of peace.

Was anti-abortion while in Congress, but in 2002 he changed his position to support a woman’s right to have a legal abortion.

When Kucinich was mayor of Cleveland, the city defaulted on close to $15 million in loans.

Timeline

1969-1975 – Serves on the Cleveland City Council.

1975-1977 Clerk of the Cleveland Municipal Court.

1977-1979 – Mayor of Cleveland. At 31, he is the youngest person at that time ever elected mayor of a major US city.

1979 – Loses his reelection bid to a Republican candidate.

1983-1985 Serves on the Cleveland City Council.

1994-1996 Ohio State Senator.

1996 – Is elected as a US Representative from Ohio’s 10th District.

February 2003 Files paperwork with the FEC to form a presidential exploratory committee.

October 13, 2003Formally announces his candidacy for president.

July 22, 2004 – Endorses Senator John Kerry for president.

December 12, 2006 Announces he is running for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

2007 Kucinich’s autobiography, “The Courage to Survive,” is published.

January 24, 2008 – Drops out of the presidential race.

November 2010 Elected to his eighth term in the House of Representatives.

January 2011 Settles his $150,000 lawsuit against the House of Representatives cafeteria for serving him an olive with a pit in it in 2008.

March 6, 2012Loses primary to fellow Democrat Marcy Kaptur. Redistricting causes Kaptur and Kucinich to have to face each other.

May 16, 2012 Announces he will retire from Congress at the end of his term, after deciding against relocating to run for Congress in Washington state.

January 2013January 2018 Fox News contributor.

April 2013 – Kucinich joins the Advisory Board of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

January 17, 2018 – Announces he is running for governor of Ohio.

May 8, 2018 – Loses the Democratic primary for Ohio’s governor to Richard Cordray.

June 8, 2021 – Kucinich’s memoir, “The Division of Light and Power,” is released.

September 14, 2021 – Kucinich finishes third in Cleveland’s mayoral primary. The top two candidates will advance to the general election.

May 18, 2023 – Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. releases a statement saying he has chosen Kucinich as his campaign manager.

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