Theresa Gavarone

Theresa Gavarone

Republican Party

Ohio State Senate District 2

Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

6

Predecessor

Randy Gardner

Prior offices

Ohio House of Representatives District 3

Successor: Haraz Ghanbari

Predecessor: Tim Brown

---

Compensation

Base salary

$71,099/year

Per diem

$No per diem is paid

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Appointed

February 5, 2019

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Theresa Gavarone (Republican Party) is a member of the Ohio State Senate, representing District 2. She assumed office in 2019. Her current term ends on December 31, 2028.

Gavarone (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Ohio State Senate to represent District 2. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Gavarone was appointed to the state Senate to replace Randy Gardner. Gavarone previously represented District 3 in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2016 to 2019.

Gavarone was selected as senate majority leader effective January 6, 2024.

Biography

Gavarone received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Bowling Green State University in 1988 and a law degree from the University of Toledo in 1994. She worked as an attorney and, as of 2022, co-owned a restaurant, Mr. Spots, with her husband.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Gavarone was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Finance Committee
• General Government Committee
• Judiciary Committee
• Local Government Committee, Vice Chair
• Senate Rules and Reference Committee
• Legislative Service Commission Committee

2021-2022

Gavarone was assigned to the following committees:

• Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review Committee, Vice chair
• Senate Finance Committee, Vice chair
• Judiciary Committee
• Local Government and Elections Committee, Chair
• Senate Rules and Reference Committee
• Small Business and Economic Opportunity Committee

2019-2020

Gavarone was assigned to the following committees:

• Education Committee
• Senate Health Committee
• Judiciary Committee
• Government Oversight and Reform Committee
• Workforce and Higher Education Committee, Vice chair

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: Ohio State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Ohio State Senate District 2

Incumbent Theresa Gavarone defeated Paloma De La Fuente in the general election for Ohio State Senate District 2 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Theresa Gavarone (R)	61.7	111,096
	Submit photo	Paloma De La Fuente (D)	38.3	68,948

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 180,044
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 2

Paloma De La Fuente advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 2 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Paloma De La Fuente (Write-in)	100.0	705

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 705
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 2

Incumbent Theresa Gavarone advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 2 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Theresa Gavarone	100.0	28,190

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 28,190
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gavarone in this election.

2022

See also: Ohio's 9th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Ohio District 9

Incumbent Marcy Kaptur defeated J.R. Majewski in the general election for U.S. House Ohio District 9 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marcy Kaptur (D)	56.6	150,655
		J.R. Majewski (R)	43.4	115,362

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 266,017
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Youseff Baddar (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 9

Incumbent Marcy Kaptur advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 9 on May 3, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marcy Kaptur	100.0	32,968

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 32,968
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 9

J.R. Majewski defeated Craig Riedel, Theresa Gavarone, and Beth Deck in the Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 9 on May 3, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		J.R. Majewski	35.7	21,666
		Craig Riedel	31.0	18,861
		Theresa Gavarone	28.5	17,337
	Submit photo	Beth Deck	4.7	2,883

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 60,747
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Ohio State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Ohio State Senate District 2

Incumbent Theresa Gavarone defeated Joel O'Dorisio in the general election for Ohio State Senate District 2 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Theresa Gavarone (R)	62.2	122,084
		Joel O'Dorisio (D)	37.8	74,240

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 196,324
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 2

Joel O'Dorisio defeated Reem Subei in the Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 2 on April 28, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joel O'Dorisio	52.2	12,170
		Reem Subei	47.8	11,162

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,332
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 2

Incumbent Theresa Gavarone advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 2 on April 28, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Theresa Gavarone	100.0	17,352

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,352
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 3

Incumbent Theresa Gavarone defeated Aidan Hubbell-Staeble in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 3 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Theresa Gavarone (R)	61.7	30,338
		Aidan Hubbell-Staeble (D)	38.3	18,840

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 49,178
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Daniel Gordon (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 3

Daniel Gordon advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 3 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Daniel Gordon	100.0	5,583

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 5,583
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 3

Incumbent Theresa Gavarone advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 3 on May 8, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Theresa Gavarone	100.0	8,187

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 8,187
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Ohio House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 15, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was December 16, 2015. Theresa Gavarone (R) was appointed to this seat after Tim Brown (R) resigned. She replaced Brown on the general election ballot.

Incumbent Theresa Gavarone defeated Kelly Wicks in the Ohio House of Representatives District 3 general election.

Ohio House of Representatives, District 3 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Theresa Gavarone Incumbent	58.75%	35,795
	Democratic	Kelly Wicks	41.25%	25,131
Total Votes				60,926
Source: Ohio Secretary of State

David Walters ran unopposed in the Ohio House of Representatives District 3 Democratic primary.

Ohio House of Representatives District 3, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David Walters  (unopposed)	100.00%	8,976
Total Votes				8,976

Incumbent Tim Brown ran unopposed in the Ohio House of Representatives District 3 Republican primary.

Ohio House of Representatives District 3, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tim Brown Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	17,159
Total Votes				17,159

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Theresa Gavarone did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Theresa Gavarone did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Theresa Gavarone did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

---

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

---

Theresa Gavarone campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Ohio State Senate District 2	Won general	$966,256	$769,301
2022	U.S. House Ohio District 9	Lost primary	$293,282	$289,320
2020	Ohio State Senate District 2	Won general	$600,234	N/A**
2018	Ohio House of Representatives District 3	Won general	$476,080	N/A**
2016	Ohio House of Representatives, District 3	Won	$509,678	N/A**
Grand total			$2,845,531	$1,058,622
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Ohio

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Ohio scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].
In 2024, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 2 to December 19. A special session on elections commenced on May 28, 2024, and ended on May 31. Equality Ohio Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to LGBTQ, civil rights, and racial justice issues.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].
In 2023, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 2 to December 31. Ohio Environmental Council Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental policy. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].

In 2022, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 19 to December 15. Equality Ohio Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to LGBTQ, civil rights, and racial justice issues. Innovation Ohio Representatives are scored on their votes on bills affecting working families. Ohio Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. The Institute for Legislative Analysis Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].
In 2021, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 4 to December 31. Ohio Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community. Ohio Environmental Council Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental policy. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].

In 2020, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 6 to December 31. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Innovation Ohio Representatives are scored on their votes on bills affecting working families. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Ohio Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community. Ohio Environmental Council Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental policy. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].
In 2019, the Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 7 through December 31. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2018

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show].
In 2018, the 132nd Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 2 through December 31. Innovation Ohio Representatives are scored on their votes on bills affecting working families. Ohio Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2017

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show].
In 2017, the 132nd Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 2 through December 31. Ohio Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2016

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show].
In 2016, the 131st Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 5 through December 31. Ohio Chamber of Commerce: 2015-2016 scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Ohio State Senate District 2

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Officeholder

Ohio State Senate District 2

Website

Facebook

Personal

Facebook

LinkedIn

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Randy Gardner (R)	Ohio State Senate District 2 2019-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by Tim Brown (R)	Ohio House of Representatives District 3 2016-2019	Succeeded by Haraz Ghanbari (R)

[show]

Current members of the Ohio State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Robert McColley

Minority Leader:Nickie Antonio

Senators

District 1

Robert McColley (R)

District 2

Theresa Gavarone (R)

District 3

Michele Reynolds (R)

District 4

George Lang (R)

District 5

Stephen Huffman (R)

District 6

Willis Blackshear (D)

District 7

Steve Wilson (R)

District 8

Louis Blessing (R)

District 9

Catherine Ingram (D)

District 10

Kyle Koehler (R)

District 11

Paula Hicks-Hudson (D)

District 12

Susan Manchester (R)

District 13

Nathan Manning (R)

District 14

Terry Johnson (R)

District 15

Hearcel Craig (D)

District 16

Beth Liston (D)

District 17

Shane Wilkin (R)

District 18

Jerry Cirino (R)

District 19

Andrew Brenner (R)

District 20

Tim Schaffer (R)

District 21

Kent Smith (D)

District 22

Mark Romanchuk (R)

District 23

Nickie Antonio (D)

District 24

Thomas Patton (R)

District 25

William DeMora (D)

District 26

Bill Reineke (R)

District 27

Kristina Roegner (R)

District 28

Casey Weinstein (D)

District 29

Jane Timken (R)

District 30

Brian Chavez (R)

District 31

Al Landis (R)

District 32

Sandra O'Brien (R)

District 33

Alessandro Cutrona (R)

Republican Party (24)

Democratic Party (9)