OHIO STATE SENATOR JOHN BOCCIERI IS GOING TO BE A CONGRESSMAN-- BYE BYE RALPHIE

CNN is reporting what no one doubted would happen before the end of the year: another Ohio Republican, 82 year old Ralph Regula, will be retiring at the end of the session. As first reported here last June, the Ohio Democratic Party is firmly behind John Boccieri. The 16th CD-- just south of Cleveland and Akron and taking in Medina, Stark (and the city of Canton) and most of Ashland counties leans Republican, bust less and less in recent years. Bush won with 54% of the vote against Kerry (if the votes were counted properly) but both Governor Ted Strickland and Senator Sherrod Brown racked up substantial victories in the district last year, convincing the DCCC that OH-16 is a great shot for a takeover.

Regula has been bitter and disconsolate ever since Jerry Lewis stole the chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee out from under him. Regula's voting record is tragic-- pure, unadultered rubber stamp, something one would expect from a member of Mitt Romney's "whip team." On Iraq Regula has never differed with the Bush Regime-- not even once. And now that he's finally retiring... he says he wants to be a cowboy.

Regula's son Dickie was supposed to inherit the seat but he lost an election as a Stark County Commissioner and he is no longer considered a viable candidate for elective office. A vicious GOP primary is expected between two far right nutcases, State Senator Kirk Schuring and Ashland County Commissioner Matt Miller. Schuring is an anti-choice fanatic and a typical crooked pol. Both have reputations as pathetic hacks and neither is well regarded. Many Republicans in the district particularly detest the overly ambitious Miller because he ran a vicious primary campaign against Regula last year and had already declared he would oppose him again this year. Senator Boccieri is a major in the Ohio Air Force Reserve and is currently stationed in Iraq.