Jay Edwards is an American politician who served as a state representative in the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

for the 94th District from 2017-2025. He is a Republican. Edwards additionally served as the Majority Whip of the Ohio House.

Life and career

Edwards was born and raised in

Nelsonville, Ohio Nelsonville is a city in northwestern Athens County, Ohio, United States, located about southeast of Columbus. The population was 5,373 at the 2020 census. It is home to Hocking College as well as Rocky Brands. Nelsonville is surrounded by ...

, where he graduated from

Nelsonville-York High School Nelsonville-York High School is a public high school in Nelsonville, Ohio, a southeastern Ohio city in northern Athens County. It is the only high school in the Nelsonville-York City School District. Nelsonville-York City Schools serve York To ...

. After high school he attended nearby

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

on a football scholarship, where he studied mathematics. Edwards is a licensed realtor, and recently begun work in medical sales within the drug treatment market.

Ohio House of Representatives

In 2016, Representative Debbie Phillips was term-limited and ineligible to run for a fifth term. A Democrat, Phillips had only faced one serious election in her four terms, in 2014, where she won by just over 100 votes. However, despite Athens County, the largest in the district, being considered reliably Democratic, Republicans had historically seen success in winning the district prior to Phillips' taking the seat. Democrats nonetheless fielded Sarah Grace, a small-business owner from Athens who was a newcomer to politics and a liberal. Despite being considered the favorite, Edwards raised considerable money, albeit not without controversy. In the end, in what was a very good year for Republicans, Edwards defeated Grace by a 58% to 42% margin, taking the seat. Edwards is the first Republican to hold the seat since

Jimmy Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

held the seat from 2003 to 2008. In 2018, Edwards defeated Democrat Taylor Sappington to retain the seat. In the 2020 general election, Edwards face
Democrat Katie O'Neill

Electoral history

References

External links

Ohio State Representative Jay Edwards
''official site'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Jay Living people Ohio University alumni People from Nelsonville, Ohio Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly