John Boccieri is no stranger to Mahoning Valley politics after serving nine years in the Ohio House of Representatives, two years in the state Senate and two years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He is one of three candidates in the Democratic primary race to replace state Rep. Lauren McNally, who is leaving her 58th District seat to run for a Mahoning County Commissioners seat. The other candidates are former Youngstown City Council member Basia Adamczak, of Youngstown, and political newcomer Jordan Pegues, of Austintown.

The winner of the primary will face Republican Heather Fronk, of Poland, in November’s general election.

The 58th District includes Youngstown, Austintown, Poland, Lowellville, Jackson, Milton, Craig Beach and Coitsville. The 58th District favors Democrats by more than 21% based on partisan statewide voting results.

Boccieri is a United Airlines pilot and has spent the past 32 years as a member of the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. He works part-time at the Pentagon and said he plans to retire from the Air Force soon.

But it is Boccieri’s political experience — including years working across the aisle in Columbus and Washington — that earned the endorsement of The Vindicator editorial board in the May 5 primary.

“This is not a time for training wheels,” Boccieri said during an endorsement interview with the editorial board and reporter David Skolnick. “This is not a time for learning on the job. There are some significant policy issues that are in front of us, issues that have lingered for decades, frankly, where the state Legislature has chosen not to represent the people’s wishes. We need meaningful tax reform. There are big policy issues in front of us, and this is not a time for learning on the job.”

Boccieri also has the endorsement of the Mahoning County Democratic Party.

The makeup of the state Legislature has shifted decidedly to the right, with Republicans holding a supermajority now, but Boccieri said that won’t change his approach if voters return him to Columbus,

“I worked across the aisle before and got things done,” he said.

Boccieri said his biggest priorities, if elected, will be affordability, property tax reform and urban renewal.

He said he wants to increase funding for food banks, help small businesses by offering a temporary reduction of the Commercial Activity Tax, and implement a temporary suspension of the state’s gasoline tax, which is 38.5 cents per gallon on regular gasoline and 47 cents per gallon on diesel.

Ohio’s fuel tax at the pumps has never been suspended and the state would lose an estimated $1.24 billion on diesel sales and $800 million on regular gasoline. The losses, Boccieri said, could be offset by Ohio’s rainy day fund.

Boccieri said he supports an increase in the homestead exemption for senior homeowners to give older Ohioans a break on property taxes.

Adamczak left a job at Mahoning County Job and Family Services to launch her campaign and runs a consulting firm. This is Pegues’ first foray into politics. He has spent 20 years in manufacturing and has worked for Wesco Distributions since 2022.

The three Democrats share some common ground in their approaches to representing the 58th District, but we agree with Boccieri that experience matters now more than ever in state politics.

Boccieri has plenty and can hit the ground running in Columbus if he wins the primary and is elected in November.