What position did John Boccieri take from 2009 to 2011?
John Boccieri John Stephen A . Boccieri ( born October 5 , 1969 ) is an American politician who was appointed to fill the 59th district seat in the Ohio House of Representatives on September 29 , 2015 . He left office after an unsuccessful run for Ohio State Senate in 2018 . He served as the U.S . Representative for from 2009 to 2011 , and lost his 2010 bid for reelection to Republican Jim Renacci . He is a member of the Democratic Party , and previously served in the Ohio State Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives . Boccieri resides in Poland , Ohio . Early life and career . Boccieri was born in Youngstown where he graduated from Ursuline High School in 1988 . He attended St . Bonaventure University in New York , graduating with a B.S . in 1992 , after which he played minor league baseball in the Frontier League . Following one season of baseball , he began his career in government . After working as staff for several members of the Ohio House of Representatives , Boccieri joined the United States Air Force as a second lieutenant . He also earned two masters degrees ( M.A . 1992 , M.P.A . 1996 ) from Webster University in St . Louis , Missouri . Boccieri flew the C-130 Hercules as a member of the Air Force Reserve . He has been forward deployed several times and served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom , causing him to take leaves of absence from the Ohio Legislature . After leaving the active duty Air Force , he re-entered politics , running for and winning the 61st District of the Ohio House of Representatives in 2000 . In 2006 , he won a seat in the Ohio State Senate in District 33 ; he was unopposed . United States Congress . There had been speculation throughout 2007 that Boccieri would challenge U.S . Representative Ralph Regula 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 in the general election . He was the first Democrat to represent this district in 58 years . On October 30 , 2010 , Boccieri ran offstage while former President Bill Clinton 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 Jim Renacci . He was defeated handily in an overwhelmingly Republican year ; Boccieri received only 40% of the vote , compared to 52% for Renacci ( a Libertarian candidate took the remaining votes ) . Return to Ohio House of Representatives . On September 29 , 2015 Boccieri was appointed to the Ohio House of Representatives , 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 in the general election .