Thomas Alexander Garrett Jr. (born March 27, 1972) is an American politician and attorney. He served one term 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 ...
for
Virginia's 5th congressional district
Virginia's fifth congressional district is a United States congressional district in the commonwealth of Virginia. The 5th district includes the majority of rural Southside Virginia, though it stretches as far as the Richmond suburbs. Within ...
Virginia Senate
The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...
. In November 2022, Garrett announced he would run for the
Virginia House of Delegates
The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...
in 2023. In the
2023 Virginia House of Delegates election
The 2023 Virginia House of Delegates election took place on November 7, 2023, concurrently with elections for the 2023 Virginia Senate election, Virginia Senate, to elect members of the 163rd Virginia General Assembly. All 100 delegates were el ...
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, to Thomas Alexander Garrett Sr. and his wife, Lois. Garrett is a graduate of
Louisa County High School
Louisa County High School (LCHS) is a secondary school for students of Louisa County, Virginia in the United States. It is the school for students in the county in grades 9-12.
History
Louisa County High School was created by the consolidation ...
and earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...
.
Career
Garrett served for six years in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
, where he was a
Field Artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement.
Until the ear ...
officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
.
Commonwealth's attorney
Garrett served as an Assistant Attorney General under Virginia Attorney General
Bob McDonnell
Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American politician, attorney, businessman, academic administrator, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Republica ...
. In 2007, he was elected
Commonwealth's Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
redistricted the State Senate as required by the Virginia Constitution in 2011, Garrett decided to run for an open seat. The 22nd District was open due to the incumbent Republican Ralph K. Smith's home in
Roanoke
Roanoke may refer to:
Places
*Roanoke Colony, a former English colony that mysteriously disappeared
*Roanoke Island, the location of the Roanoke colony in present-day North Carolina
*Roanoke River, flowing through Virginia and North Carolina and ...
being drawn into another district.
In the Republican primary, Garrett came in first in a five-person field with nearly 26% of the vote and a margin of fewer than 200 votes. During his time in office, he served on the General Laws and Technology, Courts of Justice, Education and Health, and Privileges and Elections committees.
U.S House of Representatives
Elections
2016
In May 2016, after three ballots at the Republican nominating convention, Garrett won the Republican nomination for
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...
in
Virginia's 5th congressional district
Virginia's fifth congressional district is a United States congressional district in the commonwealth of Virginia. The 5th district includes the majority of rural Southside Virginia, though it stretches as far as the Richmond suburbs. Within ...
.
In the November 2016 general election, Garrett defeated Democratic nominee Jane Dittmar, the former chairwoman of the
Albemarle County
Albemarle County is a United States county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Ch ...
In the spring of 2018, reports surfaced that Garrett and his wife, Flanna, used his congressional staff for personal use, leading his chief of staff to abruptly resign. Personal use of the staff time included running errands, house sitting, chauffeuring his children, and cleaning up after their dog.
Rumors also spread that Garrett might not run again. Garrett clarified later that he intended to run in what political analyst
Larry Sabato
Larry Joseph Sabato (; born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and political analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he is also the founder and director of the Center for ...
called "one of the oddest" speeches. As of April 2018, Garrett was outraised by multiple Democratic opponents. In light of these fundraising numbers, the
Cook Political Report
Amy Elizabeth Walter (born October 19, 1969)"Profile: Amy Walter"
moved the race from "likely Republican" to the more competitive "leans Republican." Democrats went on to nominate former investigative journalist
Leslie Cockburn
Leslie Cockburn ( ; born Leslie Corkill Redlich on September 2, 1952) is an American investigative journalist, and filmmaker. Her investigative television segments have aired on CBS, NBC, ''PBS Frontline'', and ''60 Minutes''. She has won an Emm ...
.
On May 28, 2018, Garrett announced that he is an
alcoholic
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...
and would not seek reelection in 2018.
Tenure
In January 2017, Garrett was named to the House Committees on Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, and Education and the Workforce. He was also a member of the conservative
House Freedom Caucus
The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. It is generally considered to be the most conservative bloc within the chamber ...
, though he told voters during the campaign that he would not join the group. Garrett was a member of the
Republican Study Committee
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. In November 2024, Representative August Pfluger was elected as the chair of the RSC, ...
.
In March 2017, Garrett posed for a photo with
Jason Kessler
Jason Eric Kessler (born September 22, 1983) is an American neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist. Kessler organized the Unite the Right rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11–12, 2017, and the Unite ...
, one of his constituents who was an organizer of the Unite the Right rally, a
far-right
Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
rally held in August 2017 in
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...
. The rally became the site of violent clashes, leaving about 30 people injured, followed shortly by an incident in which a white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd, killing a woman and injuring 19 other people. After the rally, Garrett disavowed the organizer and said he was unaware of Kessler's role in the rally when they initially met.
Personal life
In April 2019, Garrett and his wife, Flanna Sheridan, separated. In August 2021, Sheridan filed suit in Rockingham County Circuit Court for false imprisonment, emotional distress, trespassing and civil assault, seeking $450,000 in damages stemming from an attempt by Garrett to repossess a vehicle driven by Sheridan.