Thomas West (Ohio)
Thomas West (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Ohio State Senate to represent District 29. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on May 5, 2026.[source]
West (Democratic Party) was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing District 49. He assumed office on January 1, 2017. He left office on December 31, 2022.
Biography
West serves on the Canton City Council. He is the Annexation Chairman and a member of the Capital Improvement Committee, Special Improvement District and Canton Community Improvement Corporation. West received his masters in social work administration and a bachelor's in social work from the University of Akron.[1]
Committee assignments
2021-2022
West was assigned to the following committees:
- Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee
- Behavioral Health and Recovery Supports Committee (decommissioned)
- Families, Aging, and Human Services Committee (decommissioned)
- House Finance Committee
- House Health Committee
2019-2020
West was assigned to the following committees:
- Aging and Long Term Care Committee
- House Finance Committee
- House Health Committee
- Criminal Justice Committee (decommissioned)
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Ohio committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Economic Development, Commerce, and Labor |
| • Health |
| • Transportation and Public Safety |
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
2026
See also: Ohio State Senate elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on May 5, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 29
Thomas West (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Ohio State Senate District 29 on May 5, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Thomas West | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary
Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 29
Incumbent Jane Timken (R) is running in the Republican primary for Ohio State Senate District 29 on May 5, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Jane Timken | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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2022
See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 49
Jim Thomas defeated incumbent Thomas West in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 49 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jim Thomas (R) | 53.6 | 18,806 |
| Thomas West (D) | 46.4 | 16,307 | |
| Total votes: 35,113 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49
Incumbent Thomas West advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas West | 100.0 | 2,000 |
| Total votes: 2,000 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49
Jim Thomas advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Thomas | 100.0 | 1,604 |
| Total votes: 1,604 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Campaign finance
2020
See also: Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 49
Incumbent Thomas West defeated James Haavisto in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 49 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas West (D) | 54.3 | 24,305 |
 | James Haavisto (R) | 45.7 | 20,416 | |
| Total votes: 44,721 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49
Incumbent Thomas West advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49 on April 28, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas West | 100.0 | 5,912 |
| Total votes: 5,912 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49
James Haavisto advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49 on April 28, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Haavisto | 100.0 | 3,547 |
| Total votes: 3,547 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
2018
General election
General election for Ohio House of Representatives District 49
Incumbent Thomas West defeated James Haavisto in the general election for Ohio House of Representatives District 49 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas West (D) | 57.9 | 19,454 |
| James Haavisto (R) | 42.1 | 14,134 | |
| Total votes: 33,588 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49
Incumbent Thomas West advanced from the Democratic primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas West | 100.0 | 5,653 |
| Total votes: 5,653 | |||
| = 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 49
James Haavisto advanced from the Republican primary for Ohio House of Representatives District 49 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Haavisto | 100.0 | 3,745 |
| Total votes: 3,745 | |||
| = 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
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. Incumbent Stephen Slesnick (D) did not seek re-election because of term-limits.
Thomas West defeated Dan McMasters in the Ohio House of Representatives District 49 general election.[2]
| Ohio House of Representatives, District 49 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Thomas West |
56.52% | 24,064 | |
| Republican | Dan McMasters | 43.48% | 18,512 | |
| Total Votes | 42,576 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State | ||||
Thomas West defeated Joyce Healy-Abrams in the Ohio House of Representatives District 49 Democratic primary.[3][4]
| Ohio House of Representatives District 49, Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Thomas West |
50.46% | 6,054 | |
| Democratic | Joyce Healy-Abrams | 49.54% | 5,944 | |
| Total Votes | 11,998 | |||
Dan McMasters ran unopposed in the Ohio House of Representatives District 49 Republican primary.[3][4]
| Ohio House of Representatives District 49, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Dan McMasters (unopposed) |
100.00% | 8,992 | |
| Total Votes | 8,992 | |||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
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2022
Thomas West did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Thomas West did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
West issued the following statement regarding his bid for office:
| “ | I am running to give a social advocacy and workforce development voice to the Ohio General Assembly. The State House is full of lawyers, insurance agents and businessmen who create legislation for the business and insurance industry and are not astute to the needs of the everyday citizen and community organizations. I desire to collaborate and complement the local State officials who have backgrounds in law, business and insurance and bring a local and social perspective that serves to create a well-rounded and informed regional approach and solutions for our district and state. | ” |
| —Thomas West, [1] | ||
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.
2022
In 2022, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 19 to December 15.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to LGBTQ, civil rights, and racial justice issues.
- Representatives are scored on their votes on bills affecting working families.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills impacting Ohio's business community.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- 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]. |
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In 2021, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 4 to December 31.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Ohio State Legislature was in session from January 6 to December 31.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 7 through December 31.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the 132nd Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 2 through December 31.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 132nd Ohio General Assembly was in session from January 2 through December 31.
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See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted through Ballotpedia's biographical submission form on February 21, 2016
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Official election results," accessed December 21, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ohio Secretary of State, "Candidate Listing By Office," accessed February 8, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ohio Secretary of State, "2016 Official Elections Results," accessed August 29, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Ohio House of Representatives District 49 2017-2022 |
Succeeded by Jim Thomas (R) |
