Kisumu County and the entire Nyanza region is perceived as being an opposition stronghold based on its voting patterns.
The region always supports the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party.
It is always hard for anyone outside ODM to win a political seat in the region. In Kisumu, two MPs went against the wave and won seats beating their ODM rivals in last year's poll.
1. Shakeel Shabir
He is the Member of Parliament for Kisumu East Constituency,and has been an MP since 2007.
In the 2017 party nominations, he lost during the ODM primaries and vied as an independent candidate and defended his seat.
2. Olago Aluoch
Olago is the Member of Parliament for Kisumu West Constituency. He won the parliamentary seat on a Ford-Kenya ticket defeating the ODM's candidate John Awiti.
In 2013 he also defeated the ODM's candidate Rosa Buyu who is now the Kisumu County Women Representative.