Though Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich suspended his presidential campaign in order to focus more closely on his Congressional re-election bid, he may cruise to re-election, a new poll shows. The survey gives little hope to Cleveland City Councilmember Joe Cimperman, despite backing from Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and the influential Cleveland Plain Dealer, as Politics Nation's Kyle Trygstad wrote last week.

The survey, conducted by Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling, tested 470 likely Democratic voters on 2/25 for a margin of error of +/- 4.7%. Along with Kucinich and Cimperman, Barbara Anne Ferris, who challenged Kucinich in 2004 and 2006, North Olmstead Mayor Tom O'Grady and teacher Rosemary Palmer were tested.

Two important caveats about PPP polls: Most pollsters conduct surveys over at least two days in order to control for the occasional news story or event that could skew results. PPP Also conducts polls by auto-dial, meaning respondents are not screened by live interviewers. The method, also used by Rasmussen and SurveyUSA, is gaining popularity, but its accuracy remains in some doubt in polling circles.

Primary Election Matchup
(All / Men / Wom / Wht / Blk)
Kucinich 55 / 44 / 64 / 57 / 36
Cimperman 29 / 40 / 19 / 27 / 43
Ferris 5 / 6 / 5 / 6 / --
O'Grady 4 / 5 / 3 / 3 / 14
Palmer 1 / -- / 2 / 2 / --

Cimperman has made inroads when other earlier primary challengers have not. But, says Cleveland State political scientist Joel Lieske, he begins at a serious disadvantage. "Cimperman has been running some effective negative ads about Kucinich's neglect of his congressional responsibilities and his quixotic run for the presidency," Lieske said. But "Cimperman represents a ward that contains about 21,000 people. Kucinich is the incumbent of a district that contains over 675,000 people."

The race will be decided when Cleveland voters head to the polls, along with the rest of their fellow Buckeyes, on March 4.