Republicans in Ohio’s 16th Congressional District are having a tight primary that ends in two tiny weeks. Then comes the election season for incumbent Democrat John Boccieri, who is reeling from his votes on health care and emissions trading.
Ohio’s predominantly Republican 16th District is in the northeastern corner of the dull state, where McCain’s approval rating in 2008 was 50-48%. Boccieri won by a wide margin following the retirement of popular Republican Ralph Regula, the second-longest-serving Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Boccieri spent $1.4 million on his 2008 campaign, while his competitors spent $1.1 million. Boccieri also came from a more populated region of the district than his 2008 competitor.
This time, all these factors will not assist him. One of the leading candidates for the Republican Party in the 2010 cycle is businessman Jim Renacci, who has roots in Wadsworth near Canton. His rebounding numbers have been impressive, and he has a 27-year history of creating jobs there. Another candidate, Matt Miller, has GOP experience just an hour away and has been working at the precinct for months. Paul Schiffer, a local radio host, is trying to run as the Tea Party candidate after failing to win a seat in the House of Representatives in 2008.
Whoever wins will have a major influence on Boccieri, who originally voted against health care but changed his vote after Obama visited his district in Ohio and mentioned notable Ohioan Mrs. Canfield, who developed leukemia after overcoming cancer.
Boccieri, along with fellow Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, changed his vote, even though Boccieri did so for completely different reasons. Kucinich said the bill was not progressive enough. Boccieri said the bill would save money and that he thought it would assist people like Canfield and that his mother would be proud of him for voting for the bill.
“I want my mother to know that today I get up and do what I believe in,” Boccieri said at a news conference at the time.
Then the reaction began; Boccieri reported death threats against him and his family and said he did not feel physically unthreatening at the Capitol. He won’t feel very good politically unthreatening when a Republican challenger gets his hands on him.
“Boccieri does not represent the district,” Renacci said. “I vote for Pelosi 94% of the time… including cap and trade, health care and many other issues.”
When it comes to cap-and-trade, Boccieri has once again proven to be a flipper. First, he said the bill would kill jobs in Ohio. He then said the bill would create jobs. His eventual “yes” vote on cap and trade encouraged Ohioans to unite against him, and they did before health care. Ohio is home to three of the most lively tea party states; Miller, Renacci and Shiffer say they have a natural advantage over incumbents.
“When I’m out and about, I constantly hear people tell me they’ve been Democrats for 30, 40 years and that they won’t vote for a Democrat when their leaders pushed through a bill they didn’t want,” Młynarz said.
Bocierri raised an impressive $1 million during his last campaign and still had more than $900,000 available to fight his ultimate Republican foe. Renacci is the only Republican to raise anything close to that amount, raising $650,000, including $120,000 of his own funds. But that’s not a guaranteed success in a country where grassroots activism is becoming as regular as Sunday church.