Barbs tossed as campaign starts for 16th district seat

May 5, 2010

Jim Renacci still hadn’t acknowledged his victory when the press releases started flying Tuesday night.The National Republican Congressional Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued statements outlining what most likely will be the message voters will hear between now and November.

From the Republican camp comes word that U.S. Rep. John Boccieri, D-Alliance, can be called upon to cast his vote as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dictates. The NRCC has placed Boccieri in the “Flip-Flop-Five” because he voted against the health care bill last fall, but helped it pass when he switched his vote in March.

Democrats, meanwhile, are quick to tag Renacci as a millionaire who supports tax breaks for fellow millionaires and tax hikes for middle class families. They also recounted Renacci’s participation in a dispute with the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals that ended with him paying $1.39 million in taxes, interest and penalties.

FIGHT FOR CONGRESS

Boccieri and Renacci will face off for Ohio’s 16th District congressional seat. Also on the Nov. 2 ballot is Libertarian Party candidate Jeffrey J. Blevins of Wadsworth.

Boccieri is in his first two-year term after winning the seat Ralph Regula, a Republican from Bethlehem Township, held for 36 years. Boccieri has served in the Ohio House and Senate, and also is a major in the Air Force Reserve.

Renacci is a former mayor of Wadsworth. He came to the area in the 1980s to work as a certified public accountant and started buying nursing homes. He has had a hand in about 60 businesses, including an arena football team and a car dealership.

Both candidates have strong support from their national parties, and that has translated into financial support. Boccieri has a campaign war chest of more than $900,000 as of the end of March. Renacci has generated more that $600,000, but used a lot of money to win the primary.

Renacci’s campaign will get a boost Thursday when the NRCC places him in its “Young Guns” program, which highlights congressional candidates who have shown they can raise money, develop momentum and build an effective campaign. Renacci already was listed as a “contender” in the program.

WAR OF WORDS STARTS

In a telephone conversation Wednesday afternoon Boccieri said he hopes the campaign focuses on issues and ideas, as opposed to insults. Renacci echoed those sentiments in a statement issued late Wednesday.

But Boccieri asked if voters in the 16th District wanted to “put the people who played Russian roulette with our economy back in charge?” Boccieri said Renacci is supported by big business and organizations that have helped ship jobs overseas and given breaks to business.

“This election will be the CEOs versus the people who work for them,” Boccieri said. A return to Republican control of Congress will lead to a “global race to the bottom for American workers.”

Renacci countered that “it’s unfortunate but not surprising” for Boccieri to focus his campaign “around the politics of class warfare and personal destruction” rather than the issues.

“Considering the abysmal record he’s amassed by putting the wishes of Nancy Pelosi above the will of his own constituents, it’s predictable that he would try to talk about anything other than the votes that he’s cast in Congress,” Renacci said of Boccieri.

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