Ralph Regula

Congressman-elect John Boccieri (D-Alliance) has hired Anthony Trevena as his chief of staff for when he heads to Washington, D.C. to represent Ohio's 16th Congressional District.

Trevena has worked for Gov. Ted Strickland in various capacities over the years and is from Guilford Lake in Columbiana County.

Trevena took a leave of absence from his position as deputy director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in order to work for the Boccieri campaign.

State Sen. Boccieri defeated fellow state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Twp.) in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Navarre) in Ohio's 16th. Boccieri got 55.26 percent of the vote in the race compared to 44.74 for Schuring.

The campaign of state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Twp.) is proud of their effort in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Navarre) in Ohio's 16th Congressional District.

Schuring came up short in his race against state Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance). The Ohio Secretary of State currently shows Boccieri received 55.26 percent of the vote to Schuring's 44.74 percent. Boccieri received 160,894 votes compared to 130,270 for Schuring.

Schuring campaign manager PJ Wenzel said he was proud of the campaign, and thankful to all of the volunteers who helped with the effort.

"I thought it was a great effort," Wenzel said. "We had a tremendous team of volunteers, staff and supporters. We worked very hard to the end. We had hundreds and hundreds of volunteers throughout the community, working to get a favorable outcome."

CNN has projected state Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance) as the winner in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Navarre) in Ohio's 16th Congressional District.

Boccieri was squaring off with state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Twp.) for the seat.

Results for the Ohio Secreatary of State as of the time of this report showed Boccieri getting 54.20 percent support in the race compared to 45.80 percent support for Schuring.

The correlating numbers show Boccieri with 104,517 votes compared to 88,317 for Schuring.

CNN called the race 54 percent Boccieri to 46 percent Schuring with 90 percent of precincts reporting.

State Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance) is making sure to hit all four counties in the 16th Congressional District during the final day of campaigning before voters head to the polls.

Boccieri will be campaigning across the district with stops in Ashland, Wayne, and Medina Counties. Boccieri's campaign office is based in Stark County.

The Boccieri camp said that after touring several companies in Ashland County this morning, Boccieri will make public stops at the Wayne County Democratic Party headquarters to greet volunteers. He'll greet voters at restaurants in Wayne County before taking a tour of Santmyer Oil in Wooster.

Boccieri will again greet volunteers at the Medina County Democratic Party headquarters. And go on to greet voters at restaurants in Medina County.

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State Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Twp.) warmed up the crowd Sunday morning at McKinley High School auditorium before remarks from Republican vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska).

"The political pundits and pollsters have said this presidential race is tightening," Schuring said. "I'm going to predict victory for John McCain and Sarah Palin. They will be the comeback kids and win on Tuesday."

Schuring said that the Democratic ticket was offering more government.

"We must unleash the America spirit," Schuring said. "The work is not over. We won't stop working until the last poll closes on Tuesday."

CANTON -- State Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance) has crossed Ohio's 16th Congressional District again and again over the course of his campaign to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Navarre). Boccieri said that he's spent his time meeting average people who just want to see their family and their country succeed. Boccieri hopes to help.

Boccieri sat down with PolitickerOH.com to talk about the final push of the campaign, and said that as he hits the trail, the people he talks to are still very nervous about the economy and the current financial crisis.

"Two-thirds of our economy is driven by people believing that they're going to have a job from one day to the next, that they're going to be able to go out and purchase a vehicle, to buy a home, to send their kids to college, that they're going to be able to go see their doctor," Boccieri said. "And it's frightening a lot of them because they're losing their faith in the economy and losing their faith in the government to make the right decisions to right the course."

The campaign of state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Twp.) is hitting opponent state Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance) as saying anything to get elected after Boccieri said Schuring opposes equal pay for workers.

The Boccieri camp accussed Schuring of telling the National Association of Manufacturers that, if elected to Congress, he would vote to block workers who are being paid less than others doing the same job from getting the pay they deserve unless they find out about the inequity during the first six months.

"I'm not exactly sure where they're coming from on this," said Schuring campaign manager PJ Wenzel. "This just shows, once again, that Kirk Schuring is running a campaign of ideas while John Boccieri is doing nothing but campaigning negatively."

State Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Twp.) is hitting the road and pounding the flesh in the final days of the campaign for Ohio's 16th Congressional District seat. Schuring hopes to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Navarre), who joined the Senator as he took his campaign message to Medina County Wednesday, accompanied by a bus full of volunteers, staff and local leaders.

"We're being outspent by 3-to-1 by all these outside special interest groups, and we can't match them dollar for dollar, so we're taking this campaign to the people," Schuring told PolitickerOH.com aboard the Spirit of 16 Express. "We're doing this the way that campaigns should be run."

Schuring said that he and his group of volunteers were going door-to-door and business-to-business to make sure that voters in the 16th know who he is and what he's about.

Schuring has run his campaign as a native of the 16th, stressing the importance of his personal connection to the district and the people in it.

The campaign of state Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance) is saying opponent state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Township) opposes fair pay for workers.

The Boccieri camp said that Schuring has told the National Association of Manufacturers that, if elected to Congress, he would vote to block workers who are being paid less than others doing the same job from getting the pay they deserve unless they find out about the inequity during the first six months.

"Senator Schuring says that if you've worked 20 years at a factory and you suddenly find out that your boss has paid you less than everybody else in the same position, you have no right to fair pay," Boccieri said today. "That philosophy of siding with big business over middle class families is the reason Washington is broken. The common sense solution is that if you've worked hard your whole life, you deserve the full pay you've earned."

Congressional Quarterly Politics has re-rated the race for Ohio's 16th Congressional District from "No Clear Favorite" to "Leans Democratic."

The race pits state Sen. John Boccieri (D-Alliance) against state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Township) to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Navarre).

CQ Politics wrote the decision to re-rate the race came because of the "Democratic trend nationwide and in Ohio," as well as "heavy investment" by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the race.