Eastern and Southeastern Ohio: Where the Congressional Carpetbaggin’ Is Apparently Easy

Apparently a lot of Eastern and Southeastern Ohio voters either don’t care about where their congressmen and congressional candidates live (which would run counter to nationally surveyed sentiments), or simply haven’t found out.

Last week, there was the announcement (HT Stark Politics) that Democrat John Boccieri, who lives in Ohio’s 6th Congressional District just a few miles from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, is running for Congress ….. in the 16th (the link on the small map is to a full map of all Ohio congressional districts):

According to Mapquest, the 16th’s easternmost border is about 30 miles and a 40-minute drive from where Boccieri lives, and its westernmost border in Ashland County is about 110 miles and two hours away.

Boccieri is probably not running in the 6th because that District’s incumbent is Democrat Charlie Wilson, who lives in ….. the 18th district, “in a small sliver of Belmont County represented by (Zack) Space.”

The 6th District’s congressman before Wilson was now-Governor Ted Strickland. By all accounts, Strickland spent the large majority of his time during 2003 through 2006 in ….. a condominium in Columbus. Strickland’s right to claim that he lived in the 6th District’s Columbiana County was shaky enough that he decided to vote early in last year’s gubernatorial election to head off the residency questions and formal challenge that had surfaced. In the process, Strickland became perhaps the first major party gubernatorial candidate in American history not to cast his or her vote on Election Day. So it seems quite fitting that Ted was on hand for Boccieri’s announcement.

In his 2006 congressional campaign for the 6th District seat, nonresident Wilson emphasized how poor the economy was in the District, even though it had been “represented” for four years (and parts for 12 years) by ….. fellow party member Strickland.

Wilson’s congressional web site fittingly reflects his absentee status. More than seven months after his election, Charlie’s congressional web site still has pages that are under construction or empty (here, here, an “uneventful” calendar here, and an “insert text here” privacy policy). Perhaps he hasn’t yet visited the 6th District enough to know that the Internet arrived there many years ago.

The carpetbagging disease in Eastern and Southeastern Ohio is apparently bi-partisan, as Republican Jimmy Stewart of Albany has his eyes on running in the 18th District, which HE doesn’t live in. And we of course can’t forget the “legacy” of Republican Bob McEwen, who must have acquired the carpetbagging virus while he represented portions of Southeastern Ohio during his 12 years in Congress from 1981-1993. Fortunately, his attempt to spread the virus here to Southwestern Ohio failed spectacularly — though in April of last year, he did set the example of voting early to head off a disqualification challenge that Strickland imitated six months later.

Boy, I thought things were weird here in Southwestern Ohio. Well ….. they really are, but in a different way. That’s the subject of a different post (immediately below this one if you’re on the home page).

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Potential Carpetbagging Update: I have it on good authority that Paul Phillips, who as of a month ago said that “he’s starting to raise money for a campaign and has found a receptive audience for his candidacy with state and national Republicans” for the 18th District seat, has some “issues.”

Specifically, my source tells me that Phillips “bought a house in June of 2006 in Beavercreek in Greene County which is in the 7th District. He renewed his license plates at that house in February 2007 and still lives there. He says that he has relocated to Chillicothe, but owns no property in that district.”

Greene County is east of Dayton, and quite a distance from the 18th District.

If, as I understand it, you grew up in the area and want to return, there’s still time to get it right, Paul — but not much.