Steve Demetriou

Republican

State Senator (27th District) · Summit County, Ohio · November 3, 2026

Also on the ballot: Mike Roberto (Democratic)

Steve Demetriou is a sitting Ohio House member giving up his seat to run for the open Ohio Senate District 27 seat. A West Point graduate and cryptocurrency-policy advocate, he has built a legislative record on tax relief, deregulation, and school choice, backed by Americans for Prosperity-Ohio's endorsement.

What this office decides

An Ohio state senator votes on the two-year state budget and tax law and on laws covering schools and vouchers, Medicaid, abortion, guns, policing, energy, and elections. With three-fifths of both chambers, the General Assembly can override the governor's veto and put constitutional amendments on the ballot, as it did with Issue 3. One of 33 senators, elected to a four-year term.

How this race lines up with you

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Dossier

Researched 2026-09-23 · Claude Code research agent with web search

Donald Trump: nothing found. No instance found of Trump endorsing or criticizing Demetriou in this race. Demetriou posted on Facebook in January 2025 celebrating Trump and JD Vance's inauguration, but that is the candidate's own statement, not an action by Trump. source

Americans for Prosperity-Ohio (for) source

Who they are

Steve Demetriou is the Republican state representative for Ohio House District 35 (since 2023), running for the open Ohio Senate District 27 seat; he is not this Senate race's incumbent (Wikipedia). A West Point graduate and Army veteran, he won re-election to the House in 2024 with 52.6% (Wikipedia).

Positions

Taxes & regulation: Supported the 2023 budget's property-tax relief and flat income tax; Americans for Prosperity-Ohio credits him with "lower taxes" and "reduced regulation" (Wikipedia; AFP-Ohio).
Technology: A leading legislative advocate for cryptocurrency; introduced HB 18 to let the state invest up to 10% of general-revenue and lottery funds in digital assets (Wikipedia).
Energy: Voted for HB 201, barring restrictions on vehicle sales by energy source and blocking California emissions standards (Wikipedia).
Schools: Prioritizes school choice and parental rights, including the "Backpack Bill" (AFP-Ohio).

Record

Co-sponsored HB 84 (the "Innocence Act"), passed by the House, restricting juveniles' access to obscene online material (Ohio House). His 2025 budget proposal (HB 96) included about $100 million in library-funding cuts and an age-verification rule for adult content that privacy advocates warned could enable surveillance (Wikipedia).

Money

Received about $474,146 in PAC contributions (2023-2026) and gave about $145,200 to the Ohio House Republican Alliance (Wikipedia); Senate-specific totals were unavailable; Transparency USA's page was blocked (Transparency USA).

What we couldn't find

No explicit statement on abortion or guns; a 2023 Ohio Right to Life comment listed him among legislators it was unhappy with, without specifics (Geauga County Maple Leaf).
No Senate-specific fundraising totals.
No Trump endorsement in this race, though he celebrated Trump's 2025 inauguration on Facebook.

Sources (9)