10/02/2026
Jimmy Stewart grew up in West Virginia and graduated from Marshall University in 1992. After completing an MBA at Xavier University in 1994, he moved to Athens, Ohio, in 1995 to work for the regional Caterpillar dealer serving southeast Ohio.
In 1997, he became the first — and to date only — Republican elected to Athens City Council's 1st Ward since the early 1960s. Two years later, he was elected City Auditor, carrying all four wards. In 2002, he won a seat in the newly drawn, Democrat-leaning 92nd House District, representing Athens, Meigs, Morgan, and western Washington County over three terms; during that time, he relocated to Meigs County. In 2008, he was elected State Senator for the 20th District, encompassing nine counties, and in late 2010 his colleagues chose him as Senate Majority Leader, the chamber's number-three leadership post.
Jimmy left elected office in July 2011 to become President of the Ohio Gas Association. He also serves on the Ohio Water Development Authority Board — reappointed to an eight-year term in 2019 — and is the longest-serving board member of Buckeye Health Plan, Ohio's second-largest Medicaid Managed Care Organization. He chairs the Meigs County Board of Elections.
Today, he spends much of his free time maintaining and expanding the reforested wildlife park he built adjacent to his home, and working out at the Ping Center.
Zoom Link:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87402178191?pwd=Pv0zCqxUpKnnwNNaS8aV2jypWXaJef.1
