Ohio had eighteen seats in the House, apportioned according to the2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected in November 2008 served in the111th Congress from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincided with the2008 U.S. presidential election.
Districts 1, 15, and 16 changed party (from Republican to Democratic), althoughCQ Politics had forecasted districts 1, 2, 14, 15, 16 and 18 to be at some risk for the incumbent party. District 15 was not decided until December 8, 2008.[1] As of 2026, this is the last time that Democrats won both a majority of congressional districts and the House popular vote in the state.
Democratic nomineeSteve Driehaus won against Republican incumbentSteve Chabot. Driehaus lost re-election to Chabot in 2010, who was re-elected 5 more times before losing re-election again in 2022.
Kucinich previously stated that he would run again forCongress in 2008 if his bid for president were unsuccessful.[9]
For 2008, however, Kucinich was facing four challengers in the Democratic primary scheduled for March 4, which prompted him to abandon his run for president.[10] Opponents included Cleveland City CouncilmanJoe Cimperman and North Olmsted MayorThomas O'Grady. Having only raised around $50,000 so far compared to Cimperman's $228,000,[11] Kucinich put out appeals for campaign funding onYouTube.[12] He managed to raise $700,000, surpassing Cimperman's $487,000.[13]
Cimperman, who was endorsed by theMayor of Cleveland and theCleveland Plain Dealer, criticized Kucinich for focusing too much on campaigning for president and not on the district. Kucinich accused Cimperman of representing corporate and real estate interests. Cimperman described Kucinich as an absentee congressman who failed to pass any major legislative initiatives in his 12-year House career. In an interview, Cimperman said he was tired of Kucinich and Cleveland being joke fodder for late-night talk-show hosts, saying, "It's time for him to go home".[14][15] An ad paid for by Cimperman's campaign claimed that Kucinich had missed over 300 votes, but by checking the ad's source, the actual number was 139.[16]
A report suggested that representatives ofNancy Pelosi andAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee would "guarantee" Kucinich's re-election if he dropped his bid to impeach Cheney and Bush, though Kucinich denied the meeting happened.[17][18] It was also suggested that Kucinich's calls for universal health care and an immediate withdrawal from Iraq made him a thorn in the side of the Democrats' congressional leadership, as well as his refusal to pledge to support the eventual presidential nominee.[14]
At the last minute, Kucinich took part in a debate with the other primary challengers. Barbara Ferris criticized him for not bringing as much money back to the district as other area legislators and authoring just one bill that passed during his 12 years in Congress. Kucinich responded:
"It was a Republican Congress and there weren't many Democrats passing meaningful legislation during a Republican Congress."[19]
Kucinich easily won the primary by a 15-point-margin over his nearest opponent, Joe Cimperman.
2008 10th district democratic primary election, Ohio
The election results were essentially tied, requiring an automatic recount. Republican incumbentDeborah Pryce did not run for re-election in 2008, leaving this an open seat. Kilroy defeated Stivers by 2,311 votes in a race not decided until the final ballots were counted on December 7, 2008.
District results
County results
Results by county
Results by precinct
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