Kaptur leading Kucinich in 9th District Democratic primary

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D, Toledo), left, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D, Cleveland) are in a battle for the 9th Congressional District.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo was outpolling her Cleveland colleague Dennis Kucinich as vote totals have been reported in the five partial counties that make up the new 9th Congressional District Tuesday night.

And Republican Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher of Springfield Township was trailing his opponent, Huron auctioneer Steven Kraus, with vote totals still being reported as of 11 p.m.

Partial returns showed Miss Kaptur leading Mr. Kucinich 30,533 to 21,729, with less than half the vote reported in Cuyahoga County and 55 percent in Lucas County.

Miss Kaptur held commanding leads in Lucas, Erie, and Ottawa counties, offsetting Mr. Kucinich’s commanding lead in Cuyahoga County. The two were running neck and neck in Lorain County, with Miss Kaptur at about 49 percent and Mr. Kucinich at 45 percent

Miss kaptur thanked supporters for making her the longest-serving female in Congress and said she looked forward to the possibility of a woman chairing the House Appropriations Committee for the first time in U.S. history.

“I can’t predict the future but I know that seniority has already gone to work for this region,” Miss Kaptur said at a victory party in the Laborers Local 500 Tuesday night in Toledo

She spent the day campaigning primarily at voting locations in Cleveland, Brook Park, and Lakewood in Cuyahoga County, and in Lorain.

Mr. Kucinich, who has a national following for his anti-war stance and his two unsuccessful campaigns for President, joined supporters at at a restaurant in West Cleveland where early hopes that a large turn out in his favor in Cleveland would defy Miss Kaptur’s lead in Lucas County were crushed.

“The numbers that we are getting in right now show that we are more than 75 percent in Cuyhoga County,” Mr. Kucinich said to the crowd. “We think we will end up in Lorain County with about a split, but the rest of the numbers do not look good, I just have to tell you that,” Mr. Kucinich said.

The new 9th District stretches from south and west Toledo to west Cleveland, picking up Lake Erie communities and cities in Ottawa, Erie, and Lorain counties along the way.