Dennis Kucinich offers no support for Marcy Kaptur after primary defeat

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170. Proving that local endorsements will trump national endorsements almost every time

Kaptur locked up most of the endorsements of most of the local community leaders. The endorsement of Grayson and Frank obviously didn't count for much. (FWIW, even in endorsing Kucinich, Frank praised Kaptur, saying that "I do not by this mean in any way to denigrate Congresswoman Kaptur. This is not a case where supporters of progressive principles have to choose between two people who both fall short of our ideals."

The fact is that the outcome of this primary was pre-ordained. Historically, when facing a primary challenger in his old district, DK averaged around 70 percent of the vote -- which is roughly what he got in his old district during this primary. When he ran for president, he did well in his home district, but in the Toledo area, he ran poorly -- getting only around 3 percent of the vote in Lucas County. Kaptur, on the other hand, is from Toledo and has represented that area for three decades; she has virtually never faced a primary opponent, and when she did (in 2010) she crushed him getting 90 percent of the vote in Lucas County. Given that the redistricting left her with more of her old district than it left DK with his, he had no chance to unseat her.