Steven Kraus
Steven Kraus (Republican Party) ran for election to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent District 89. He lost in the Republican primary on March 19, 2024.
Kraus is a former Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing District 89 from 2014 to July 27, 2015. He was removed from office after he was convicted of theft.[1] More information on his conviction can be found here.
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Kraus served on the following committees:
| Ohio committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Rural Development |
| • Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety |
| • Economic and Workforce Development |
Elections
2024
See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 89
Incumbent D.J. Swearingen defeated Alicia Roshong in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 89 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | D.J. Swearingen (R) | 58.7 | 35,148 | |
Alicia Roshong (D)  | 41.3 | 24,762 | ||
| Total votes: 59,910 | |||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 89
Alicia Roshong advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 89 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Alicia Roshong | 100.0 | 4,558 | |
| Total votes: 4,558 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 89
Incumbent D.J. Swearingen defeated Steven Kraus in the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 89 on March 19, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | D.J. Swearingen | 65.2 | 7,186 | |
 | Steven Kraus | 34.8 | 3,843 | |
| Total votes: 11,029 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Kraus received the following endorsements.
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Ohio District 9
Incumbent Marcy Kaptur defeated Steven Kraus in the general election for U.S. House Ohio District 9 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Marcy Kaptur (D) | 67.8 | 157,219 |
| Steven Kraus (R) | 32.2 | 74,670 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 48 | ||
| Total votes: 231,937 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 9
Incumbent Marcy Kaptur defeated Joshua Garcia in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Ohio District 9 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Marcy Kaptur | 85.5 | 41,502 |
 | Joshua Garcia | 14.5 | 7,029 | |
| Total votes: 48,531 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 9
Steven Kraus defeated Keith Colton and W. Benjamin Franklin in the Republican primary for U.S. House Ohio District 9 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steven Kraus | 49.4 | 10,373 |
| Keith Colton | 29.9 | 6,263 | ||
| W. Benjamin Franklin | 20.7 | 4,342 | ||
| Total votes: 20,978 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2016
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Marcy Kaptur (D) defeated Donald Philip Larson (R) in the general election. Kaptur was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Larson defeated Steven Kraus and Joel Lieske in the Republican primary on March 15, 2016.[2]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Marcy Kaptur Incumbent |
68.7% | 193,966 | |
| Republican | Donald Philip Larson | 31.3% | 88,427 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0% | 5 | |
| Total Votes | 282,398 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Donald Philip Larson |
44.3% | 20,859 | ||
| Steven Kraus | 36% | 16,966 | ||
| Joel Lieske | 19.7% | 9,262 | ||
| Total Votes | 47,087 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State |
||||
2014
Elections for the Ohio House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 6, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 5, 2014. Incumbent Chris Redfern was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Steven Kraus was unopposed in the Republican primary. Redfern was defeated by Kraus in the general election.[3]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steven Kraus |
51.2% | 19,386 | |
| Democratic | Chris Redfern Incumbent | 48.8% | 18,446 | |
| Total Votes | 37,832 | |||
2012
Kraus lost in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Ohio's 9th District. He was defeated by Samuel Wurzelbacher in the March 6, 2012, Republican primary.
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Samuel Wurzelbacher |
51.4% | 15,166 |
| Steven Kraus | 48.6% | 14,323 |
| Total Votes | 29,489 | |
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Steven Kraus did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2012
Kraus' website highlighted the following campaign themes:[4]
- "Steve is a fiscal conservative who believes that the taxpayers know best how to spend their money. He is a strong advocate for accountability, and would champion the call for Congress to live under the same laws it passes. Steve believes in a common, no nonsense approach to spending; live within your means attitude. As a liaison working between contractors and the government, Steve saw firsthand the fraud, waste, and misuse of taxpayer dollars. He believes that government must be limited in the money they are allowed to spend."
Debates
February 4, 2012
- On Saturday, February 4, candidates Kaptur, Kucinich, Veysey and Kraus participated in a debate held at Sandusky's Ebenezer Baptist Church. The debate was hosted by the NAACP. Coverage of the debate can be found here.
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.
Scorecards
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.
2015
In 2015, 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.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Noteworthy events
Stolen goods
On November 19, 2014, Kraus was indicted by a grand jury on one felony count each of burglary, breaking and entering and theft. Kraus, an auctioneer, was charged with removing antiques, a shotgun and other items from a home on April 7, 2014. James Hart, the attorney for Kraus, said that the situation was a misunderstanding, and that Kraus removed the items from the house, but at the request of the real estate agent selling the home. Kraus said he only removed the items to inventory them for auction and had no intention in keeping them. When the house was sold, Kraus returned the items, but the former homeowner claimed that not all of her items were returned. The real estate agent, Jenine Porter, claimed that she did not give Kraus permission to remove items from the home; she only gave permission for him to take pictures of an antique car in the garage.[5]
On December 11, 2014, Kraus pleaded not guilty to burglary and two other felonies in the Ottawa County Common Pleas Court. His trial was expected to begin on April 15, but was rescheduled for July 22.[6][7]
On July 27, 2015, Kraus was convicted on one count of felony theft and was immediately removed from office. He was found not guilty of criminal trespassing and breaking and entering.[1][8] Kraus was sentenced on August 21 to two years of community control.[9]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Campaign contributions via Follow the Money
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cleveland.com, "Ohio lawmaker Steve Kraus convicted of felony, loses House seat," July 27, 2015
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Ohio 2016 March Primary Candidate List," accessed March 11, 2016
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Official primary election results for May 6, 2014," accessed July 3, 2014
- ↑ teamkraus.us, "About Steve (Archived)," accessed August 27, 2014
- ↑ Times-Recorder, "State. Rep.-elect Kraus indicted on 3 felony counts," November 20, 2014
- ↑ Toledo Blade, "Ohio Rep. Steven Kraus has jury trial delayed until July," accessed April 23, 2015
- ↑ Toledo Blade, "Kraus pleads not guilty to theft ," December 12, 2014
- ↑ nbc24.com, "Rep. Steven Kraus found guilty on theft charges," accessed July 27, 2015
- ↑ sanduskyregister.com, "VIDEO: Kraus sentenced," accessed August 21, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Chris Redfern (D) |
Ohio House of Representatives - District 89 January 1, 2015-July 27, 2015 |
Succeeded by Steven Arndt (R) |
