Shane Wilkin Biography

Senator Shane Wilkin is serving his first term in the Ohio Senate. He represents the 17th Senate District, which includes Fayette, Gallia, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, and Vinton counties, as well as part of Perry County. 

Senator Wilkin is the Vice-Chair of the Small Business & Economic Opportunity Committee, and he diligently serves as a member of the standing committees on Energy & Public Utilities, Agriculture & Natural Resources, and Veterans & Public Safety. In addition to his standing committees, Senator Wilkin is the Co-Chair of the Sportsmen’s Caucus of Ohio and serves on the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission and the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee.

Senator Wilkin served as a State Representative since 2018. In the Ohio House, he worked on important legislation regarding small business and even constructed what is now the Ohio Business Fairness Act, which was signed into law in 2021. Being a small business owner himself, this bill ended the inequity and leveled the playing field for all of Ohio’s businesses, particularly smaller locally owned businesses. 

Senator Wilkin was elected to three terms as a Highland County Commissioner. He previously served as Chairman of the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission and board member of both the Community Improvement Corporation and the Highland District Hospital Foundation. 

Senator Wilkin has previously been endorsed by the Buckeye Firearms Association and the National Rifle Association, earning an “A+” rating for his steadfast defense of the 2nd Amendment. Additionally, Senator Wilkin has earned the Award for Conservative Achievement four years in a row from the American Conservative Union – one of the highest ratings for conservative leadership in Ohio issued by the founders of CPAC. 

Senator Wilkin currently resides near Hillsboro with his wife Kristy, Judge of the Ohio Fourth District Court of Appeals, and their two daughters Piper and Parker.