Better Know A District: OH-16. The Fightin' Sixteenth!

With the retirement this year of Ralph Regula the Ohio's 16th Congressional District seat is wide open for John Boccieri to step in. Considering that the last time a Democrat held this seat was January of 1951, Boccieri may have a steep hill to climb in this R+3 district. Running against him are three Republicans--Matt Miller, Paul Schiffer and Kirk Schuring--and another Democrat, Mary Cirelli. A summary of the five candidates' positions can be found here.

For more about this race and others, see my diary Retiring Republicans.

John Boccieri has been serving in the Ohio Senate since 2007. Before that, he seved from 2001 to 2006 in the Ohio House of Representatives. Boccieri has a BA in economics from St. Bonaventure University (New York), where he also played baseball, leading the NCAA Division 1 in stolen bases. He played a year of minor league baseball in the Frontier League before working on the staffs of several members of the Ohio House of Representatives. He then joined the United States Air Force as a lieutenant; while stationed in Little Rock, Arkansas, he earned a master's degree from Webster University (St. Louis, Missouri). Boccieri continues to serve as a member of the Air Force Reserve, and has been forward deployed several times, flying a C-130 Hercules in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. These deployments have forced him to take leaves of absence from the House.

Boccieri is running on several main issues, including:

• Economy: fair wages, safe working conditions, job security, an end to unfair trade deals, education and job training, encourage by investing in emerging industries like green energy.
• Energy: end dependence on foreign oil, invest in new technologies and cutting edge businesses, create high paying energy jobs, encourage research to promote advanced domestic energy resources including bio-fuels, clean-coal, solar, wind and bio-mass.
• Social Security: fulfill our obligation to seniors by strengthening and guaranteeing benefits without privatization.
• Veterans and Military Families: advocate for service men and women, full funding of veterans' health care and VA, strong supporter of our veterans and military families, and sponsored "Military Injury Relief Fund" bill providing tax check-off program for Ohioans to provide additional funding for wounded veterans to transition back into civilian life and assisting with their medical expenses.
• Iraq War: after five long years we owe it to our soldiers and their families, to find a way to bring them home safely, honorably, and soon.

Boccieri is also a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. I assume this is a popular position among this District's many hunters. I admit to being somewhat ambivalent about the Second Amendment--I think most of us should be allowed to own guns, but I also think there are limits. The fact that Boccieri received an "A" rating from the NRA gives me pause. In the end analysis, however, this seems like a politically necessary position in a district like OH-16, and I sincerely doubt that Second Amendment issues will consume much of the House's time.

Nevertheless, Boccieri's military background make him potentially a valuable spokesperson for ending the war. As a rabid anti-war voter, I like hearing the words "soon" but am always a bit suspicious of the words "safely" and "honorably". Such words leave some wiggle room, and I have to wonder which is more important, "soon" or "honorably"? From my vantage point, their honor derives from having done exactly what has been asked of them under the worst of conditions, and despite terrible--if any--planning by both their military and civilian commanders. Insofar as that is the case, they are ready to return home with honor right now. That is, I worry that "honorably" means honorably for the mission as a whole, that the mission must first be deemed "successful" before our troops can return home. Some clarification on this issue seems appropriate.

That all said, it's clear Boccieri has a far better platform than his Republican contenders. After 58 years of Republican asses in this seat (the last 24 Regula's), I would love to see a Democrat take it. Boccieri's contenders are running on tired Bush or Bush-lite platforms, and this may be starting to wear thin even in this R+3 Congressional District in Ohio. As a result, Boccieri may be an opportunity to pick up a Democratic seat in the House as we happily wave good riddance to Regula.