Aleksander Reed Skarlatos (; born October 10, 1992) is a Greek-American politician and former Oregon Army National Guard soldier. He is a member of the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, the upper house being the Oregon State Senate. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of ...

, representing Oregon's 4th House district. Prior to being elected, he came to prominence for his actions during the 2015 Thalys train attack. Skarlatos ran for political office four times. Having previously ran for Douglas County commissioner in 2018, he was the Republican nominee for

Oregon's 4th congressional district Oregon's 4th congressional district represents the southern half of Oregon's coastal counties, including Coos County, Oregon, Coos, Curry County, Oregon, Curry, Lincoln County, Oregon, Lincoln, Lane County, Oregon, Lane, and Benton County, Or ...

in the

2020 United States House of Representatives elections The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 3, 2020, to elect representatives from all 435 List of United States congressional districts, congressional districts across each of the 50 U.S. states to the 117th ...

but was defeated by incumbent Democrat

Peter DeFazio Peter Anthony DeFazio ( ; born May 27, 1947) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1987 to 2023. He is a member of the Democratic Party and is a founder of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. A native of Mas ...

. He again ran to represent Oregon in the 4th congressional district in the 2022 House elections, but was defeated by Democratic state Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle. Skarlatos ran again to represent Oregon's 4th House district in the

2024 Oregon House of Representatives election The 2024 Oregon House of Representatives elections were held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Primary elections were held on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. All of the 60 seats of the Oregon House of Representatives were be elected. The elections coinci ...

and won the November general election. He assumed office on January 13, 2025.

Early life and military career

Aleksander Reed Skarlatos was born in

Castro Valley, California Castro Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Alameda County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, it was the fourth most populous unincorporated area in California. The population was 66,441 at the 2020 census. Castro Valley is ...

. His father, Emanuel Skarlatos, immigrated to the United States from Greece as a child. He was raised in

Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacrament ...

, where he first met Spencer Stone and

Anthony Sadler Anthony Albert Sadler Jr. (born July 13, 1992) is an American author and television personality. Sadler, along with his friends Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone and several other passengers 2015 Thalys train attack, stopped a gunman on a Paris-b ...

while attending a

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

in Fair Oaks. Skarlatos moved to

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and graduated from Roseburg High School and attended

Umpqua Community College Umpqua Community College (UCC) is a Public college, public community college near Roseburg, Oregon. The college has sixteen campus buildings located on bordering the North Umpqua River. The campus also features a track, tennis courts, and an ou ...

. Skarlatos joined the Oregon Army National Guard in 2012. He completed a nine-month deployment in Afghanistan with the National Guard's 186th Infantry Regiment,

41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team The 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team ("Sunset") is an element in the Oregon Army National Guard. Headquartered at Camp Withycombe, Clackamas, Oregon, it was part of the 7th Infantry Division (United States), 7th Infantry Division based at Fort ...

in 2015. The acting adjutant general of Oregon Guard referred to Skarlatos as "a true citizen soldier who displayed the courage each of us would hope to find in ourselves." A month prior to the terrorist event on the high-speed train in France, Skarlatos had reenlisted for an additional twoyears. He left military service in November 2017.

2015 Thalys train attack

On August 21, 2015, Skarlatos,

, and Spencer Stone, high school friends from Skarlatos' former home of

Carmichael, California Carmichael is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County, California, United States. It is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated suburb in the Sacramento metropolitan area, Greater Sacramento metropolitan ...

, were traveling together on the

Thalys Thalys (French: ) was a brand name used for high-speed rail, high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord and both Amsterdam Centraal and German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Köln Hauptbahnhof, Cologne, Düsseldorf Hauptba ...

high-speed train 9364 from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

bound for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

via

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

during a European vacation. Skarlatos was returning from serving in Afghanistan. A 25-year-old Moroccan, Ayoub El-Khazzani, exited the train car's toilet, armed with an AKM assault rifle, a

Luger pistol The Pistole Parabellum or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), commonly known as just the Luger or Luger P08, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The Luger was produced in several models and by several nations from 1 ...

, and a box knife. He carried magazines holding 270 rounds of ammunition for the assault rifle in a rucksack. Two passengers, a Frenchman, "Damien A.," and 51-year-old Mark Moogalian, an American expatriate living in Paris, tried to disarm the gunman. Moogalian wrested the rifle from him but was shot with the Luger while trying to protect his wife. Stone ran toward and attacked the gunman but was slashed while trying to subdue him. Arriving next to the struggle, Skarlatos grabbed the pistol out of El-Khazzani's hand, then picked up the rifle, striking the terrorist in the head with its muzzle. Sixty-two-year-old British businessman Chris Norman also helped subdue the gunman. Though badly cut, Stone - who received wrestling training in the Air Force - choked El-Khazzani until he was unconscious. El-Khazzani was tied up and then Stone, who also had some military medical training, delivered lifesaving assistance to Moogalian by compressing an exposed, bleeding artery. El-Khazzani and three of his alleged accomplices were tried in November 2020. Moogalian, Stone, Sadler, and Skarlatos were scheduled to testify, but Stone's testimony was delayed because he was hospitalized in France for undisclosed reasons. Skarlatos gave prime credit for preventing what could have been a mass killing to Stone, saying, "I do not feel like a hero because we were just doing what we had to to survive. I think Spencer is probably a hero because he was the first one" to take down El-Khazzani. "We only got involved because Spencer needed our help." El Khazzani was sentenced to life in prison for attempted murders and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. His accomplices were found guilty as well: Bilal Chatra was sentenced to 27 years in prison; Rédouane El Amrani Ezzerrifi was sentenced to seven years, and Mohamed Bakkali was sentenced to 25 years.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud Abdelhamid Abaaoud (; 8 April 1987 – 18 November 2015) was a Belgian-born Islamic terrorist who had spent time in Syria and was suspected of having organized multiple terror attacks in Belgium and France, and is known to have masterminded th ...

planned the attack, as well as an attack in

that killed 31 people, and a series of attacks in November 2015 that killed 130 in Paris, including a bombing at the night club Bataclan that killed 90 people. Abaaoud was killed in a police raid of his hideout in Saint-Denis a few days later.

International recognition

After the events of August 22, 2015, Skarlatos and his friends received international attention for their actions in thwarting the attack. French president

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

awarded Skarlatos, Stone, and Sadler, as well as Norman, France's highest decoration,

Knights of the Legion of Honour A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

(''Chevaliers de la Légion d'honneur''). Hollande said the men "faced ffwith terror" and that they "gave us a lesson in courage, in will, and therefore in hope." French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and British Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

praised the men for their bravery. The

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

expressed gratitude for "courage and quick thinking of several passengers, including U.S. service members, who selflessly subdued the attacker..." U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

telephoned the three Americans, thanking them for their heroic actions. General Philip M. Breedlove of the U.S. European Command in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, added his praise, calling the three Americans heroes for their actions which "clearly illustrate the courage and commitment our young men and women have all the time, whether they are on duty or on leave." Kevin Johnson, mayor of

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, held a parade to honor Skarlatos, Sadler, Stone, and the victims of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. During interviews Skarlatos stated, "I feel so much more connected to terrorist attacks and things like that, and victims of terrorist attacks... That easily could have been us if any one of six or seven things went a different way."

Media career

In October 2016, it was announced that Skarlatos, Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler would make an appearance on ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (British game show), British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, cu ...

'' as a part of the show's special "Hometown Heroes" week which would premiere on October 31, 2016. Skarlatos was a competitor in

season 21 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. He was partnered with professional dancer

Lindsay Arnold Lindsay Arnold Cusick (; born January 11, 1994) is an American professional dancer, choreographer, and businesswoman. Specialized in Latin and ballroom dance styles, she was the seventh female contestant to be eliminated during the ninth season ...

. He said that he was inspired to participate on the show by

Noah Galloway Noah Matthew Galloway (born October 28, 1981) is a former United States Army soldier, motivational speaker, and extreme sports enthusiast. He was injured during the Iraq War, losing his left arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee. He was ...

, a soldier who was on the previous season of the series. Skarlatos and Arnold made it to the finals of the show and finished in third place. In July 2017, it was announced that

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

would direct the upcoming biographical film titled after Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler's memoir, starring them, along with actresses

Jenna Fischer Regina Marie Kirk ( Fischer; born March 7, 1974), known professionally as Jenna Fischer, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Pam Beesly on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013), for which she was nominated for the P ...

and

Judy Greer Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has appeared in Judy Greer filmography, a wide variety of films. She rose to prominence for ...

. Filming began on July 11, 2017. The film was released in the United States on February 9, 2018. The film received a score of 23% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, a review aggregation website.

Politics

Defeats

Skarlatos first ran for Douglas County Commissioner in his home state of Oregon in the

2018 midterm elections Elections were held in the United States on November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during incumbent Republican president Donald Trump's first term. Although the Republican Party increased its majority in the Senate, Democratic incum ...

, but he lost to businessman Tom Kress. He ran again for Congress in 2020 and 2022.

2020

In 2019, Skarlatos announced that he was running as a candidate in the

2020 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

to represent

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

as a Republican. Skarlatos won the Republican primary, on May 19, 2020, defeating Nelson Ijih with 86% of the vote. Skarlatos lost the general election to incumbent Democratic congressman

in the 2020 November general election, finishing with 46.2% of the vote against DeFazio's 51.5%. Skarlatos outraised his opponent by about $500,000, mostly from individual donations, with DeFazio raising more

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

money.

2022

In May 2021, Skarlatos announced that he would run again for

in the

2022 United States House of Representatives elections The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 2022, as part of the 2022 United States elections during President Joe Biden's term. Representatives were elected from all 435 U.S. congressional districts ac ...

. He was unopposed in the Republican primary. In September 2021, controversy arose after it was discovered that Skarlatos used leftover campaign funds from his 2020 congressional bid to fund his nonprofit 15:17 Trust and then used those funds for his 2022 congressional bid; he was later cleared of violating campaign finance laws by the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

. After redistricting for the 2022 election, the 4th District contained a higher percentage of Democratic-leaning voters than before. DeFazio announced in late 2021 that he would retire. Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle announced that she would run for the seat and was endorsed by DeFazio. Hoyle won the May 17 Democratic primary. Skarlatos faced Hoyle in the November 8 general election but lost his election bid, 51% to 43%.

Oregon House of Representatives

Skarlatos ran in the

to represent Oregon's 4th House district. During the 2024 campaign Skarlatos was endorsed by the anti-abortion organization Oregon Right to Life and was described as a "strong

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

advocate". He won the general election on November 5, 2024, and assumed office on January 13, 2025.

Personal life

On September 20, 2018, a decree naturalizing Skarlatos, along with Stone and Sadler, as French citizens was published with the naturalization effective retroactive to April 2018, when the three of them applied for citizenship. A naturalization ceremony was held in Sacramento on January 31, 2019. Skarlatos was raised a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

, but is now a member of a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church.

Awards and decorations

*Received the bravery medal of the city of

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

, France.

Electoral history

Works

Bibliography

* ''The 15:17 To Paris'' (2016) ()

Filmography

References

External links

Representative Alek Skarlatos
official Oregon House of Representatives website
Alek for Oregon
campaign website
Profile
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

*
Alek Skarlatos
on Dancing with the Stars {{DEFAULTSORT:Skarlatos, Alek 1992 births 2015 Thalys train attack 21st-century American male actors American ballroom dancers American gun rights activists American male dancers American male non-fiction writers American people of Greek descent American political candidates Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Knights of the Legion of Honour Christians from California Christians from Oregon Living people Naturalized citizens of France Oregon Republicans Participants in American reality television series People from Fair Oaks, California People from Roseburg, Oregon Recipients of the Soldier's Medal United States Army soldiers American Lutherans Former Presbyterians United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Candidates in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Candidates in the 2024 United States elections Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly