Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who lost a Democratic primary in March to fellow Rep. Marcy Kaptur, declined to rule out a congressional bid in Washington state in an interview with a local news station Thursday.
"I haven't really made up my mind what I'm going to be doing with my future. I'm looking at all my options, I haven't made a decision. If I made a decision, I'd tell you right now," he told Seattle's KING 5 News.
A Republican-led redistricting process lumped Kaptur and Kucinich into the same district after Ohio lost two seats, setting up a member vs. member primary. Kaptur trounced Kucinich, the former Cleveland mayor, by over 16 points.
Kucinich visited Washington state for several events last summer. "Each time I've gone out there it's by invitation. As long as the invitations keep coming, I'll do my best to try to accommodate them," he told the AP last July.
On Thursday, he repeated that those visits were in response to invitations. "My presence here is through invitation, and when I get an invitation from Washington state -- because I love coming here -- I pay close attention … when I get an invite from Washington I check my calendar and if it's doable, I'm there."
The progressive icon, who ran for president twice, remained defiant after his defeat in a recent interview with HuffPost. "Defeat doesn’t have any power over me," he said. "If defeat has power over you, then you're afraid to stand up and speak out and challenge interests that would drag us into war -- or take away our civil liberties or bind us to a particular kind of health care system."
Washington has three open seats in the House of Representatives in the upcoming election; two Democratic incumbents are not running again and there is one newly created district. Yet Kucinich reminded KING 5 News that he is still in office, serving Ohioans. "Remember, I am a member of the United States Congress now, and I am a member of Congress right through to January 2, 2013."