[1] After graduating from Trenton Central High School and Murray State University with a degree in education,[3] Bocchini taught in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey public schools for two or three years.
[1][2] After teaching, he received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Baltimore in 1971.
[2] In 1987, Bocchini gave up his Assembly seat to challenge Mercer County Executive Bill Mathesius for re-election.
[4] Mathesius announced two weeks later that he would not seek re-election,[5] and the Republican Party nominated Bob Prunetti, a county freeholder from Ewing.
[2] Amid a statewide backlash to the policies of the Jim Florio administration, Prunetti defeated Bocchini.