Senator Tim Schaffer is a lifelong resident of Central and Southeast Ohio, currently serving in his third term in the Ohio Senate serving the 20th district which encompasses Fairfield and Licking counties, as well as portions of Perry County.  He was first elected to the Ohio House in 2000.  After serving three terms he was elected to the Ohio Senate in the 31st district.  He returned to the House in 2015.

Senator Schaffer is a champion for fighting government corruption, reducing taxes and protecting children & families from predators. With the success and well-being of the community and state in focus, he has worked on numerous economic development projects in his districts, leading to the retention and creation of hundreds of jobs.

Senator Schaffer is a veteran legislator currently serving as Chairman of the Ohio Senate’s standing Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources and Vice Chairman of the standing Committee on Transportation. He also serves as a member of the standing Committees on Armed Services; Veterans Affairs and Public Safety; Energy; and Ways and Means, as well as the powerful Rules and Reference Committee, which sets the legislative agenda of the Ohio Senate.

During his tenure in the Ohio House of Representatives, Senator Schaffer chaired the Ways and Means Committee and previously served as Chairman of the Public Utilities Committee and the Commerce and Labor Committee. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he was appointed Ohio’s first legislative Chairman of the Homeland Security, Engineering, and Architecture Committee. In addition to his legislative service, Senator Schaffer has served as Chairman of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Mine and Reclamation Commission.

In each of these positions Senator Schaffer has played key roles in reducing taxes, providing more resources to Ohio businesses to create jobs, protecting Ohio's air and water quality along with our abundant natural resources, keeping energy prices in-check, maintaining a strong infrastructure and ensuring state labor policies promote, not hinder, job creation.

In addition to his legislative duties, Senator Schaffer has a private sector career as an association executive.  Consistent with his mission to “give back,” 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 served as treasurer and president, and as chairman of the Fairfield County Republican Party.

Senator Schaffer is a graduate of Lancaster High School. He attended Ohio University-Lancaster before earning a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Communications from Mount Union College, where he was a fullback on the Oho Athletic Conference championship soccer team, a news announcer at WRMU-FM and president of the Pre-Law Society.

Senator Schaffer and his wife, Lori, reside in Lancaster.