Steve Rawlings is an American attorney and politician who has served as a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate since January 2025. His district includes the northern part of Boone County. Before his tenure in the Senate, Rawlings was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2023 to 2025. In 2024, he was elected to the Kentucky Senate to represent Kentucky’s 11th Senate district following the retirement of incumbent John Schickel.
Rawlings is the son of Herb and Pat Rawlings, nephew of Rawlings Group founder and philanthropist George Rawlings, and the grandson of John William Rawlings, a prominent pastor and advisor to Liberty University founder Jerry Falwell. He is also the namesake of Liberty University’s John W. Rawlings School of Divinity. Rawlings graduated from Greenhills High School before earning a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati in 1980 and a Juris Doctor from the Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 1989. During his time at Chase, Rawlings served as an associate editor of the Northern Kentucky Law Review.
Prior to entering politics, Rawlings was an attorney and author. He is currently the owner of My Father’s Design, a tiny home construction company, and serves on the Merit Theatre Company board of directors as well as the judicial committee of USA Shooting.
In the 2022 elections, Rawlings won the Republican primary with 2,695 votes (68.7%) against incumbent representative C. Ed Massey and won the Kentucky House of Representatives election with 11,235 votes (70.4%) against Democratic candidate Tim Montgomery. In 2024, incumbent senator John Schickel of Kentucky’s 11th Senate District chose not to seek reelection. Rawlings won the 2024 Republican primary with 7,482 votes (77.4%) and was unopposed in the 2024 Kentucky Senate election, winning with 42,770 votes.
Throughout his political career, Rawlings has been involved in various committees, including the Education, Judiciary, and State Government committees. He has also served on the Capital Planning Advisory Board and the New Member Caucus. Rawlings’ dedication to public service and his commitment to his constituents have made him a respected figure in Kentucky politics.
