John Stephen Anthony Boccieri (born October 5, 1969) is an American politician who was appointed to fill the 59th district seat in the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...

on September 29, 2015. He left office after an unsuccessful run for Ohio State Senate in 2018. He served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for from 2009 to 2011, and lost his 2010 bid for reelection to Republican

Jim Renacci James B. Renacci ( ; born December 3, 1958) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he is a former city council president and two-ter ...

. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, and previously served in the Ohio State Senate and the

. Boccieri resides in

Poland, Ohio Poland is a village in eastern Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. A suburb about southeast of Youngstown, the population was 2,463 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area. History In 1796, Poland T ...

Early life and career

Boccieri was born in

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

where he graduated from Ursuline High School in 1988. He attended St. Bonaventure University in New York, graduating with a B.S. in 1992, after which he played minor league baseball in the

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

. Following one season of baseball, he began his career in government. After working as staff for several members of the

, Boccieri joined the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

as a second lieutenant. He also earned two

master's degrees A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

(M.A. 1992, M.P.A. 1996) from

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate program ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. Boccieri flew the C-130 Hercules as a member of the Air Force Reserve. He has been forward deployed several times and served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, causing him to take leaves of absence from the Ohio Legislature. John boccieri

After leaving the active duty Air Force, he re-entered politics, running for and winning the 61st District of the

in 2000. In 2006, he won a seat in the Ohio State Senate in District 33; he was unopposed.

United States Congress

There had been speculation throughout 2007 that Boccieri would challenge

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Ralph Regula Ralph Straus Regula (December 3, 1924 – July 19, 2017) was an American politician from Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Ohio House of Representatives, the Ohio State Senate and the United States House of Representatives. ...

to represent the 16th District in the U.S. House, a seat Regula had held for 36 years. When Regula announced his retirement in late 2007, Boccieri faced an open field. He defeated State Representative Mary Cirelli with 64% of the vote in the Democratic primary. He faced and defeated State Senator Kirk Schuring in the general election. He was the first Democrat to represent this district in 58 years. On October 30, 2010, Boccieri ran offstage while former President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

was giving a speech after learning that his pregnant wife was in labor. On November 2, 2010, Boccieri lost his bid for a second term in Congress after being defeated by Republican businessman

. He was defeated handily in an overwhelmingly

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

year; Boccieri received only 40% of the vote, compared to 52% for Renacci (a Libertarian candidate took the remaining votes).

Return to Ohio House of Representatives

On September 29, 2015, Boccieri was appointed to the

, filling the 59th District vacancy caused by the resignation of Ron Gerberry. He did not run for re-election in 2018, instead opting to run for the 33rd District seat in the Ohio State Senate, losing to Michael Rulli in the general election.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boccieri, John 1969 births Living people Democratic Party Ohio state senators Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives United States Air Force officers United States Air Force personnel of the Iraq War Military personnel from Ohio Politicians from Youngstown, Ohio St. Bonaventure University alumni Webster University alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio People from Alliance, Ohio 21st-century American politicians United States Air Force reservists People from Poland, Ohio