Hagan, Boccieri win re-election

Carano, Patton and Sferra retained their seats, while Harwood won in the 65th District.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS and IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
YOUNGSTOWN -- Both the winners and losers of legislative races in Mahoning and Trumbull counties say they're making plans in the wake of Tuesday's election.
State Sen. Bob Hagan of Youngstown, D-33rd, said his re-election victory will propel him to continue working for a prescription drug bill. Hagan said he also wants to hold the Republican-controlled state Legislature accountable for the state's school funding problems.
"I think that the Republicans have let the voters down time and again in this state," he said.
Holly Hanni, the Boardman Republican who garnered only 28 percent of the voting in running against Hagan, said she's going to spend the next two years preparing to run for Mahoning County commissioner against incumbent Vicki Allen Sherlock.
"I think she's a complete disgrace," Hanni said of Sherlock.
Alliance Republican Randy Pope, who lost the race against incumbent Democrat John Boccieri for the 61st House District, also said he plans to remain in the public spotlight.
"I've sat in the background long enough," Pope said. "Once you've got campaigning in your blood, you can't get it out."
Pope said he would be running for office in the future but hasn't decided about a specific position.
Boccieri of New Middletown said in the coming months and years he expects to work with officials from all levels of government to improve the Mahoning Valley.
"We want to make sure we work together as a team and talk about regionalism," Boccieri said. "That's the only way we're going to move forward."
59th, 64th districts
Austintown Democrat Ken Carano, who won re-election to the 59th House District seat, also said he wanted to work with his fellow legislators to solve the state's budget problems.
Youngstown Democrat Sylvester Patton Jr., re-elected by a big margin to the 64th District House seat, said he will try and attract money for economic development to the Mahoning Valley.
Carano's opponent, Poland Republican Paul Alberty, and Patton's opponent, Struthers Republican William Sicafuse, didn't return calls for comment.
66th District
In Trumbull County, meanwhile, state Rep. Daniel Sferra of Warren is ready to put negative campaigning behind him and continue focusing on major state issues that affect his district.
Sferra, the Democratic incumbent in the 66th House District, said voters saw through the criticisms offered up by his opponent, Republican Randy Law, and he is ready to pay them back.
"I owe a certain allegiance to the voters who kept me in office, and I am ready to get back to Columbus and work for them," Sferra said.
Sferra said one area he plans to focus on is campaign finance reform.
"The amount of money people are spending on elections is getting to the point of being obscene," he said, adding other states have imposed limits on spending by candidates for governor, representative, senator and so on, and he wants to see Ohio follow suit.
Sferra and Law faced off in a hotly contested race that featured Law questioning Sferra's integrity.
Law pointed out during his campaign that Sferra was mayor of Warren when the city engaged in questionable dealings surrounding the city-owned Avalon South golf course.
Sferra said he was sorry to see the campaign resort to negative publicity, and wished he and Law could have focused on other issues affecting Ohioans.
"I am really disappointed that we never talked about prescription drugs or college tuition," he said, adding that they are issues he plans to address in his second term in office.
65th District
In the 65th House District in Trumbull County, Democrat Sandra Stabile Harwood handily defeated two newcomers: Republican James A. Calko Jr. and Independent Rev. Werner Lange.
Harwood, a Niles lawyer, said she believes the voters sent her a message.
"I think they want a person they believe has the integrity to represent them," she said.
In her first term in political office, Harwood said she wants to make sure she reflects the "essential goodness I see in the people of our Valley. I think they are thirsty for a person who is like them to represent them."
She said she has already started to build relationships with other representatives from the area to make a difference in Columbus.
"I look forward to all of us presenting a solid, united plan and voice in Columbus so we in this area can grow on the economic base General Motors solidified for us," she said.
slshaulis@vindy.comhill@vindy.com