As his first term as state senator in Ohio’s 20th District comes to a close, incumbent Tim Schaffer is running for reelection this November.
The 61-year-old Republican candidate from Lancaster, Ohio, did not respond to The Reporting Project’s requests for comment prior to publication, but did participate in the Oct. 10 candidate forum, co-hosted by TRP, WCLT Radio and the Licking County Farm Bureau.
Read more: Miss the live Licking County candidate forum? Listen here!
Born in Columbus, Schaffer has been a lifelong resident of central and southern Ohio. After graduating from Lancaster High School, he attended Mount Union College and received a bachelor’s degree in political science and communication while playing as a fullback on the soccer team.
Schaffer’s father Oren was a United Methodist pastor in Lancaster, and Schaffer likens his job to his father’s: Both, he said, provide a public service.
“I come from a family of teachers and preachers, so the service to our community is in my DNA,” Schaffer said during the Oct. 10 forum broadcast on Kate 98.7. “I’ve worked in Licking County for over 30 years, working for nonprofits and charities. So when I ran for office in Licking County the first time, I already knew Licking County quite well.”
Schaffer first entered public office in 2001, when he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. In 2006, he was elected to serve in the Ohio Senate, representing the 31st District until 2014, when he was then elected to back-to-back terms in the state House of Representatives. The Columbus Dispatch described this method of going back and forth from the House to the Senate as “seat swaps”—a common method of avoiding being pushed out of a seat by term limits.
In 2019, he was elected back into the Ohio Senate, but this time for the 20th District, and he is still serving in that four-year term. Schaffer’s current district covers both Licking and Fairfield counties, as well as parts of Perry County.
During his first term as senator in District 20, Intel announced its $20 billion “Silicon Heartland” project, bringing chip manufacturing facilities and thousands of jobs to central Ohio. Schaffer celebrated the announcement.
“Everything I have learned about these tech giants or large companies […] has been very positive,” Schaffer said. “They are very respectful of our environment, because they want to stay here. They want to be in business here, they want to make money, they want to provide jobs for families, provide a livelihood for our families, and they know that means being a responsible corporate citizen.”
Schaffer has prioritized growth and development in western Licking County around the Intel announcement, and in 2023, Schaffer helped State Rep. Thad Claggett secure $20 million to “protect our infrastructure, roads, bridges, [and] culverts.”
He also wants to be clear about where this funding is coming from. “We want to make sure that the local citizens—the local taxpayers—aren’t footing the whole bill for those improvements,” said Schaffer. He expresses his gratitude for the input of the local officials who helped make it happen.
In the upcoming election, Schaffer is campaigning for re-election against Democrat Nick Hubbell.
During his current term, Schaffer has sponsored bills such as directing state funds for economic growth and community development, increasing penalties and policing for fleeing from law enforcement and forms of stunt driving, and preventing state and local governments from closing or limiting firearm-related activities during a state of emergency. He has also served as Chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee since January 2021.
Most recently, he sponsored Senate Bill 267, which would hold people accountable for damage caused during a riot. Schaffer said he “took heat” from the “political left,” for introducing the legislation.
“I wanted to sponsor this because, […] There’s a component to the bill that supports our law enforcement community,” he said on an Ohio Senate Republicans podcast on July 12.
Schaffer’s reelection campaign prioritizes “fighting government corruption, reducing taxes and protecting children and families from predators.” In a previous interview, Schaffer said that he wants to make sure “everybody has [the] American Dream available to them.”
As far as current issues go, Schaffer encourages everybody to vote No on Issue 1, which determines whether Ohio should remove politicians from the redistricting process. “I tell you, the current system we have in place, under the Ohio Constitution, was passed by over 70% of the voters several years ago,” said Schaffer at the Oct. 10 forum.
In his professional life, Schaffer also has a private-sector career as an association executive. He has served two terms on the Ohio Society of Association Executives board of directors, on the board of the Fairfield Center for Disabilities & Cerebral Palsy where he was treasurer and president, and as the chairman of the Fairfield County Republican Party.
He and his wife Lori Schaffer reside in Lancaster.
Owen Baker writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.