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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
2012NEWSMAKERS
DECEMBER 17 - 23, 2012
MARCYKAPTUR United States House of Representatives By SCOTT SUTTELL ssuttell@crain.com
N
ortheast Ohio’s congressional delegation will lose three familiar faces in 2013 — U.S. Reps. Dennis Kucinich, Steve LaTourette and Betty Sutton — but through the magic of redistricting, it gains the veteran voice of longtime Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo. Rep. Kaptur, 66, has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1982. But her road to a 16th term in Congress was altered dramatically by the redistricting process, which forced her to face off with liberal icon Rep. Kucinich in a Democratic primary in the redrawn 9th District. The district runs from the West Side of Cleveland through Lorain, Erie and Ottawa counties into eastern Lucas County and parts of Toledo. The primary was a tough fight, and she won it handily, taking about 56% of the vote. This fall’s general election against Republican Samuel Wurzelbacher — “Joe the Plumber,” of 2008 fame — was a rout, as Rep. Kaptur garnered 70% of the vote.
Republicans were effective, in the partisan sense, in redrawing the state’s congressional districts. Although the overall vote in congressional races was about 50-50, Rep. Kaptur will be one of just four Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation, compared with 12 members of the GOP. Rep. Kaptur, a Toledo native and the longest-serving woman in the House, brings lots of insider knowledge of Washington to her new district. Most importantly for Northeast Ohio, perhaps, she’s the most senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, which makes government spending decisions. Rep. LaTourette was on that committee, too, so Rep. Kaptur’s work there takes on greater importance to making sure Ohio doesn’t lose congressional clout. She’s also a member of three important House subcommittees: Defense, Agriculture, and Transportation/Housing and Urban Development. However, House Democratic leaders earlier this month chose Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., over Rep. Kaptur for the position of ranking
NEWSCOM
Marcy Kaptur will be one of just four Democrats remaining in the state’s congressional delegation. member on the Appropriations Committee. Although Rep. Kaptur had seniority on the panel, “her past independence from leadership and stance on abortion rights were
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seen as factors in the race,” according to TheHill.com. Rep. Kaptur ran against Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California to be minority leader in 2002. And, according to the National Abortion Rights Action League, Rep. Lowey has a 100% ranking on abortionrelated issues, while Rep. Kaptur is ranked as a “mixed-choice,” at 70%. (Rep. Kaptur was a holdout, for a while, on the 2010 health care reform bill because of concern about abortion language that eventually was resolved.) She is something of an economic populist and opposed, for example, the North American Free Trade Agreement. Rep. Kaptur “has long argued for the need for political reform, calling on her own party to grow less dependent on fundraising and to better listen to the working class,” according to a Washington Post profile from earlier this year. A member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Kaptur has described herself as part of the “non-money wing of our Democratic caucus.”
What she said ■ Oct. 26, 9th District congres-
sional debate: “All you have to do is drive over to General Motors’ transmission plant, if you go to the Chrysler Jeep plant, you will see that all former hires have been brought back on, and in fact they are hiring off the street. The recovery of the automotive industry has been astounding.”
What others are saying ■ David B. Cohen, professor of political science and fellow of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron: “Marcy Kaptur has really earned the respect of people in both parties. She’s a workhorse and a policy wonk. And maybe most importantly, given the political situation today, she’s a more independent spirit in Congress.” ■ Chris Redfern, chairman, Ohio Democratic Party: “There are auto suppliers all throughout the lakefront who would have been devastated without the work of Marcy Kaptur and others to rescue the auto industry. … Clevelanders will find her to be accessible and hard-working and completely committed to constituent service.”
TRACKING KAPTUR’S 2012 ■ March 6: In a matchup of House heavyweights, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo easily defeated fellow Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland in the Democratic primary race to represent the new 9th District. The gerrymandered district runs from the West Side of Cleveland through Lorain, Erie and Ottawa counties into eastern Lucas County and parts of Toledo. Rep. Kaptur won about 56% of the vote. ■ Nov. 6: Rep. Kaptur won more than 70% of the vote to defeat her
Republican opponent, Samuel Wurzelbacher — you know him as “Joe the Plumber” — with more than 171,000 votes cast in the 9th. ■ Dec. 4: The House Democratic caucus passed over Rep. Kaptur, the most senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, for ranking Democrat on the influential panel. U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey of New York outpolled Rep. Kaptur in a closed-door meeting of the Democratic caucus’ Policy and Steering Committee.
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