Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has a problem. The 2010 census has led to congressional districts being redrawn all around the country. In Ohio that means that if Kucinich wants to return to the House of Representatives in 2013, he will probably have to battle either Rep. Betty Sutton or Rep. Marcia Sutton in a newly redrawn district. He told a Cleveland-area TV station, “I don’t have anywhere I can run in Ohio; I have to start thinking about what my options are.”

Kucinich has long been thought to be the liberal who was most likely to challenge President Obama in Democratic primaries in 2012. While that possibility cannot be altogether dismissed, I still think it highly unlikely that any politician of any stature, even a Kucinich, will have the chutzpah to run against the first African-American president. But Kucinich, whose ideological approach to politics has earned him a reputation as one of the most left-wing members of Congress, may have another idea. He may follow Horace Greely’s advice and “go West” to seek his political fortune in another state.

According to Politico, Kucinich is actively exploring the possibility of upping stakes and moving to Washington state to run for Congress there next year. The idea is not as far-fetched as it might sound. His national reputation may aid him since, unlike most members of the lower house, he is not unknown outside of his home state. And moving to a more liberal state might be the ticket to keep his career alive. Apparently he has met with the state’s county Democratic chairs to talk about the state’s redrawn districts, attended party rallies and plans a fundraiser there. While eligibility might become an issue, Kucinich might establish residency there well in advance of 2012 to make it possible to run.

Though members of Congress sometimes shift their base of operations around a region or a state as gerrymandering erases old districts, moving to a new state to run for office is generally the province of celebrities such as Hillary Clinton or Robert F. Kennedy, both of whom ran successfully for the Senate in New York despite their slim or nonexistent ties to the state. For a sitting Congressman to do so is virtually unheard of in recent history.

But such state jumping was far from unusual in the early years of the republic as the Westward expansion allowed politicians to reinvent themselves in new settings. For example, Sam Houston was governor of Tennessee before moving to Texas to become a war hero and then a lone star governor and senator. Edward Dickinson Baker was born in Britain but became an Illinois congressman (where he befriended Abraham Lincoln) and then moved to Oregon to become a United States senator before being killed in action in the Civil War.

So while Kucinich’s move would be unorthodox, it would not be unprecedented. And if he picks the right West Coast district, it might be a real possibility.