Tim Schaffer is a Republican state senator representing Ohio's 20th Senate District, which includes Fairfield and Licking counties as well as portions of Perry County. Born January 25, 1963, in Columbus, Ohio, he is a lifelong resident of central and southeast Ohio, living in Lancaster with his wife, Lori. A veteran legislator currently in his fourth term in the Ohio Senate, Schaffer has a long history of public service, including multiple terms in both the Ohio House and Senate. He serves as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and holds positions on committees including Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety; Energy; Rules and Reference; Transportation ; and Ways and Means. Notable achievements include championing tax reductions, job creation through economic development projects like Intel's Silicon Heartland, protecting natural resources, and earning awards such as "Friend of Agriculture" from the Ohio Farm Bureau, Guardian of Small Business from the National Federation of Independent Business-Ohio, and Distinguished Service from the Ohio Development Association. In the private sector, he works as an association executive and has led community roles like chairman of the Fairfield County Republican Party and president of the Fairfield Center for Disabilities & Cerebral Palsy board.

Education and Political Experience

• Education: Earned a B.A. in Political Science and Communications from Mount Union College, where he played fullback on the soccer team.
• Political Experience:
  • Elected to Ohio House of Representatives in 2000, serving three terms; chaired Ways & Means, Public Utilities, Commerce & Labor, and was Ohio's first legislative chairman of the Homeland Security, Engineering & Architecture Committee post-9/11.
  • Elected to Ohio Senate's 31st District in 2006.
  • Returned to Ohio House in 2015 for two terms.
  • Elected to Ohio Senate's 20th District in 2019, now in fourth term.
  • Chairman of ODNR’s Mine & Reclamation Commission.