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 ...

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 is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

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, and previously served in the

Ohio State Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such t ...

and the

. Boccieri resides in

Poland, Ohio Poland is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in eastern Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,463 at the 2020 United States census. A suburb about south of Youngstown, Ohio, Youngstown, it is part of the Mahoning Vall ...

Early life and career

Boccieri was born in

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

where he graduated from Ursuline High School in 1988. He attended

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858. In ath ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, graduating with a B.S. in 1992, after which he played

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

in the

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

. 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 Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

as a second lieutenant. He also earned two

master's degrees A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

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

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The university has an alumni net ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. Boccieri flew the

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

as a member of the

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...

. He has been forward deployed several times and served in

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

and

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

, 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

in District 33; he was unopposed.

United States Congress

Committee assignments

* Committee on Agriculture ** Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research *

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. History The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works ...

** Subcommittee on Aviation ** Subcommittee on Highways and Transit

Notable votes

In the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with t ...

, Boccieri voted for the

Children's Health Insurance Program The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – formerly known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – is a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to ...

Reauthorization Act of 2009, the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the G ...

, an

economic stimulus In economics, stimulus refers to attempts to use monetary policy or fiscal policy (or stabilization policy in general) to stimulate the economy. Stimulus can also refer to monetary policies such as lowering interest rates and quantitative e ...

package, and the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

, landmark

health care reform Health care reform is for the most part governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place. Health care reform typically attempts to: * Broaden the population that receives health care coverage through either public sector ins ...

legislation. In his memoir, ''

A Promised Land ''A Promised Land'' is a memoir by Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Published on November 17, 2020, it is the first of a planned two-volume series. Remaining focused on his political career, the preside ...

'',

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

described Boccieri as a "rising star" of the Democratic Party and one of the political neophytes who decided to support the healthcare reform bill despite political risks.

Campaigns

2008

There had been speculation throughout 2007 that Boccieri would challenge

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

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

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 James Kirk Schuring (September 17, 1952 – November 22, 2024) was an American politician of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party from the state of Ohio. He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1993 to 2002, a ...

in the general election. He was the first Democrat to represent this district in 58 years.

2010

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 and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

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 election cycle; Boccieri received only 41% of the vote, compared to 52% for Renacci (a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

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 Michael Anthony Rulli (born March 11, 1969) is an American politician, musician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 6th congressional district since 2024. He previously served as an Ohio State Senator for the 33rd di ...

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 21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly 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 United States Air Force reservists People from Poland, Ohio 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives