Kucinich makes Toledo stop

From left, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, and Toledo Mayor Mike Bell attend a Martin Luther King, Jr., unity celebration in Savage Arena at UT. Miss Kaptur and Mr. Kucinich face each other and Graham Veysey in a 9th Congressional District Democratic primary. Enlarge

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, fresh from a weekend celebrity fund-raiser in California, ventured into Toledo Monday to attend a Martin Luther King, Jr., event -- where U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur also was -- then met with a group of Hispanics at a West Toledo restaurant.

Mr. Kucinich, a Democratic Cleveland congressman since 1997, is challenging Miss Kaptur (D., Toledo) for the newly reconfigured 9th Congressional District that stretches from Toledo to Cleveland.

He declined to estimate how much money he raised at the home of Stanley and Betty Sheinbaum in Los Angeles Saturday. Among the guests were writer Gore Vidal, Jodie Evans, founder of the left-wing activist group Code Pink Women for Peace, and Deidre Hall, a soap-opera actress who has sponsored events for Mr. Kucinich in the past.

Mr. Sheinbaum is chairman of the ACLU of southern California, publishes a quarterly journal, and contributes to liberal causes. Ticket prices ranged from $100 to $2,500 to be a co-sponsor.

It was expected that Mr. Kucinich would tap into his network of supporters created in his 2004 and 2008 campaigns for president.

Asked what interest those California-based contributors would have in the Lake Erie-hugging 9th District, Mr. Kucinich said their interest was in his positions.

"They support peace and civil liberties and human rights and they don't ask for anything in return, which sets them apart from a number of interest groups who contribute to candidates," Mr. Kucinich said.

The race is being hotly contested because there are more registered Democrats in the Cuyahoga County portion of the district than there are in the other four counties put together -- Lorain, Ottawa, Erie, and Lucas. Anyone can ask for a Democratic ballot in the March 6 primary, and voting such a ballot is how one becomes registered as a Democrat in Ohio.

Graham Veysey, 29, of Cleveland is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

Voters who request a Republican ballot on the same day will choose between Steven Kraus of Huron and Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher of Springfield Township as their nominee.

The invitation to the Kucinich fund-raiser, which was emailed to potential supporters by Mr. Kucinich's wife, Elizabeth, claimed he has been "outraised 9-1" in the primary election campaign.

Steve Fought, manager of Miss Kaptur's re-election campaign, said, "We knew he was going to go out to Hollywood and raise a bunch of money.

"Candidates often paint the worst-case scenario when they're trying to raise money. I wish we had nine times as much money as he did, especially when he's getting all this money from movie stars," Mr. Fought said.

The most recent reports on file with the Federal Elections Commission date to Sept. 30, and they show that at that time, Miss Kaptur had $604,917 in her campaign account, compared with Mr. Kucinich's $99,440.

After the morning King remembrance at the University of Toledo, Mr. Kucinich went to a meeting at El Camino Real Restaurant.

At the gathering, there was discussion of Miss Kaptur's vote in December, 2010, against the Dream Act, a bill to allow the children of illegal immigrants to go to college.

"She voted against the Dream Act. That's going to cause her some problems," said Rico Neller, editor of La Prensa newspaper. He said he was not taking a position and was at the meeting as an observer. He said the meeting came about on the spur of the moment after the MLK event.

Mr. Neller noted that Lorain, Sandusky, East Toledo, and west Cleveland all have Spanish-speaking populations that might be targeted on this issue.

Miss Kaptur said Monday that she voted against the Dream Act because it singles out Hispanic immigrants and has some provisions that the supporters might come to regret.

"If you read the fine print in the bill you'll see that it would have allowed the immigration service to be aggressive in going after the parents of students, for example, and create a lot of human agony," she said.

"The American Dream Act is piecemeal. We need comprehensive immigration reform," Miss Kaptur said, adding that people from all parts of the world are seeking immigration to the United States.

Miss Kaptur was one of four Democrats out of 10 then serving from Ohio to vote against the bill; six voted yes. All eight Republicans voted no. The bill squeaked by in the House but then failed in the Senate.

Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, who was not at the meeting, agreed that Latino groups for the most part supported the Dream Act. But he said the one issue would not define Miss Kaptur among Hispanic voters.

"Some people are going to use that as a single issue, but there's a whole lot more at stake than just the Dream Act. I support the Dream Act trying to help students. I'm not sure Marcy's been properly advised on that issue," Mr. Velasquez said.

Contact Tom Troy at: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058.