Legislation and political positions
Roegner has sponsored and supported a range of socially conservative legislation during her time in the Ohio legislature.
She has cited her Catholic faith as an influence on her legislative priorities,particularly in the areas of life and family policy. [3]
House Bill 6 and FirstEnergy contributions
According to public campaign-finance records,Roegner’s campaign committee received multiple contributions from the FirstEnergy Corp. political action committee between 2016 and 2019. [4]
According to the official House Bill 6 roll-call page on the Ohio Legislature’s website,Roegner is not listed among the senators voting "yea" or "nay" on final passage of the bill,indicating she did not cast a vote. [5]
In the 134th General Assembly,Roegner was one of the Senate cosponsors of House Bill 6,a follow-up measure that modified several COVID-19–related licensing and education provisions and adjusted certain electric-utility efficiency requirements while leaving the underlying House Bill 6 subsidy structure largely intact. The bill passed both chambers and was signed by Governor Mike DeWine on May 14,2021,with portions taking effect on October 9,2021. [6] [7]
In February 2019,Roegner introduced Senate Bill 23,legislation commonly known as the “heartbeat bill”or the Human Rights and Heartbeat Protection Act. The bill prohibits most abortions once embryonic cardiac activity can be detected,typically around six weeks into pregnancy,and does not include exceptions for rape or incest. [8]
SB 23 passed the Ohio Senate on March 13,2019,and the Ohio House of Representatives on April 10,2019. Governor Mike DeWine signed the bill into law on April 11,2019,and it was scheduled to take effect on July 11,2019. [9]
On July 3,2019,a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law under then-existing federal constitutional precedent. [10]
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overruling of Roe v. Wade in June 2022,state officials obtained dissolution of the federal injunction,and SB 23 briefly took effect on June 24,2022. Enforcement was again halted on September 14,2022,when a Hamilton County judge issued a temporary restraining order under the Ohio Constitution. [11]
In October 2024,the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas entered a permanent injunction against SB 23,holding that Ohio’s six-week abortion ban violated the reproductive-rights amendment approved by voters in 2023. [12]
In August 2023,after the period in which SB 23 had briefly been enforceable,Roegner wrote an op-ed stating that Ohio’s abortion laws should be paired with stronger support systems for women and children. In follow-up reporting,she and her family told the Akron Beacon Journal they were in the process of completing the training and home-study requirements to become licensed foster parents in Ohio. [13]
Bathroom and facility access legislation
In 2024,Roegner voted in favor of Senate Bill 104,the “Protect All Students Act,”which requires public schools and universities to assign restroom and locker room access based on sex assigned at birth. Governor Mike DeWine signed the bill into law in November 2024. [14] [15]
Selling State Lands
Roegner has also been an advocate for selling state lands for oil and natural gas drilling,including on Lake Erie. She had urged rejection of the amendment,which would have added an extra layer of protection for Lake Erie on top of an existing federal ban on drilling,stating that it is foolish to let only Canada reap the benefits of the reserves underneath the lake. [16]
Education funding
She has been critical of Governor John Kasich and his education funding formulas,calling them "wealth redistribution".
Covid 19 Pandemic
In May 2020,during the COVID-19 pandemic,Roegner and Senator Rob McColley introduced a bill that would immediately end Ohio's stay-at-home order and limit the state health director's ability to give similar orders. The bill is contrary to the recommendation of the country's top medical experts;Governor DeWine has promised to veto any bill that curb's the health director's authority during the crisis. [17]
Gender Politics
In 2023,Roegner voted for legislation to ban gender-affirming care—including the usage of puberty blockers,hormone replacement therapy,and gender transition surgery—for transgender youth and to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports. [18] Roegner argued,"attempting to change someone's sex is a fool's errand." [18] The legislation was vetoed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine,but his veto was overridden by the Ohio General Assembly. [18] Roegner said she was "disappointed that the Governor chose not to protect girls across the State of Ohio." [19] During a Senate debate on the veto,Roegner falsely stated that gender-affirming care does not exist:"Despite what the liberals say,gender is not assigned at birth,but rather from the moment of conception,you are either male or you are female. There is no such thing as gender-affirming care. You can't affirm something that doesn't exist." [20]
Recreational Marijuana
In 2025,Roegner supported legislation to amend the state's recreational marijuana law,which had been adopted by voters in a ballot initiative in 2023. [21] The bill would decrease the THC content allowed in products and limit home growing of cannabis. [21]
In February 2023,Roegner supported Senate Bill 1,legislation that proposed banning diversity,equity,and inclusion (DEI) programs at Ohio’s public colleges and universities. The bill also sought to limit faculty strikes and require instructional neutrality on topics like climate change and abortion rights,drawing criticism from organizations such as the American Association of University Professors and the ACLU of Ohio. [22]
Immigration
In May 2025,Roegner introduced Senate Bill 172,which would require Ohio judges and court personnel to allow immigration-related arrests by federal agents on courthouse grounds,even without a judicial warrant. The bill was proposed in response to local court rules that limited such arrests,and drew criticism from immigrant rights advocates and legal groups who argued it could deter participation in the justice system. [23]
Limited Collective Bargaining
In 2011,Roegner supported a bill to limit collective bargaining for public employees,stating that it is something taxpayers should celebrate. [24]
Redistricting and gerrymandering
During Kristina Roegner’s tenure in the Ohio General Assembly,both her Ohio House and Ohio Senate districts were drawn as part of statewide legislative maps that advocates and courts have described as partisan gerrymanders favoring Republicans. In 2021,the Republican-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission approved new state House and Senate maps that voting-rights groups said gave an “extreme and unfair advantage to the Republican Party”and locked in veto-proof Republican supermajorities in both chambers. [25]
On January 12,2022,the Supreme Court of Ohio struck down those legislative maps as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders,holding that the General Assembly maps violated the anti-gerrymandering provisions added to the Ohio Constitution in 2015. [26] [27] Despite repeated rulings that the maps were unconstitutional,a federal three-judge court ultimately imposed one of the invalidated Republican maps for use in the 2022 elections because of impending deadlines,and Roegner’s 2022 re-election race for the 27th Senate district was conducted under that map. [28] [29]
Nonpartisan analyses have continued to describe Ohio as one of the most heavily gerrymandered states in the country,with most Ohioans living in legislative districts that are uncontested or effectively noncompetitive under the current maps. [30]
Ohio House of Representatives
When Mike Moran won the 42nd district in 2008,he took a seat in what was traditionally a Republican district. Therefore,he was a top target for House Republicans in 2010,and Roegner was fielded to try to unseat him. [33] In the end,she went on to beat Moran 51% to 49%. [34] [35]
For the 129th General Assembly,Speaker of the House William G. Batchelder named Roegner as a member of the Republican majority caucus' Policy Committee. [36] She was sworn into office on January 3,2011.
Roegner won reelection to the seat in 2012 with 54.18% of the vote over Democrat Tom Schmida,and again in 2014 with 58% of the vote.
