Congressman-elect John Boccieri (D-Alliance) has hired Anthony Trevena as his chief of staff for when he heads to Washington, D.C. to represent Ohio's 16th Congressional District.

Trevena has worked for Gov. Ted Strickland in various capacities over the years and is from Guilford Lake in Columbiana County.

Trevena took a leave of absence from his position as deputy director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in order to work for the Boccieri campaign.

State Sen. Boccieri defeated fellow state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Jackson Twp.) in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Navarre) in Ohio's 16th. Boccieri got 55.26 percent of the vote in the race compared to 44.74 for Schuring.

The Youngstown Vindicator reported that Trevena and Boccieri "are close friends dating back to 2000 when both were running for seats in the Ohio House."

The Vindicator also reported that while Trevena enjoyed his job with the ODNR, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to work for Boccieri in Congress.