Thomas Charles O'Halleran (; born January 24, 1946) is an American politician who served as the

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 ...

for from 2017 to 2023. Beginning his political career as a Republican, he was the Arizona state senator from the 1st district from 2007 to 2009. In 2015, he became a member of the Democratic Party. He also served as the chair of communications for the

Blue Dog Coalition The Blue Dog Coalition, commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats, is a Congressional caucus, caucus of Political moderate, moderate members from the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States House of ...

. On June 7, 2023, he was appointed as a senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Joe Biden administration.

Early life and education

O'Halleran was born and raised in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and graduated from Providence St. Mel School. He attended

Lewis University Lewis University is a private Lasallian university in Romeoville, Illinois, United States. It enrolls around 6,600 students in more than 80 undergraduate programs, 35 graduate programs, and accelerated programs for working adults. It is al ...

for one year before joining the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest Law enforcement in the United States#Local, ...

. O'Halleran later attended

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

for one year.

Early career

O'Halleran served with the

from 1966 to 1975. He then became a member of the

Chicago Board of Trade The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), is an American futures exchange, futures and options exchange that was founded in 1848. On July 12, 2007, the CBOT merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form CME Group. CBOT and three other excha ...

, operating his own

futures trading In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The item tr ...

business with a focus in futures contracts on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes.

Arizona Legislature

O'Halleran, then a Republican, served in the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...

from 2001 to 2007. He then served in the

Arizona State Senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...

, representing the 1st district from 2007 to 2009. In a 2008 primary election, he was unseated by Steve Pierce. After leaving the Arizona legislature, O'Halleran hosted a radio show on KAZM in Sedona. In 2014 he left the Republican Party, citing its policies on education, water, and child welfare. He then ran for the 6th district seat of the State Senate as an independent, losing by 3%.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2016

On August 6, 2015, O'Halleran announced his candidacy as a Democrat for Arizona's 1st congressional district. He explained his switch of party affiliation as a result of his positive attitude toward government, and, in particular, of his support for government regulations that would increase the use of wind and solar energy. In May 2016, O'Halleran was named to the

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...

's Red to Blue list, indicating that his race was a priority for the group. On August 30, 2016, O'Halleran beat Miguel Olivas in the Democratic primary. He defeated Republican

Paul Babeu Paul Raymond Babeu (pronounced ''BAB-you''; born February 3, 1969) is an American law enforcement officer, politician and member of the Republican Party who was sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, from January 1, 2009, to January 1, 2017. He was P ...

and Green Party candidate Ray Parrish in the general election with 51% of the vote.

2018

O'Halleran ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the general election, he defeated Republican Wendy Rogers with 54% of the vote.

2020

O'Halleran was reelected, defeating Republican nominee Tiffany Shedd with 51.6% of the vote.

2022

In the 2021 decennial redistricting, O'Halleran's district was reshaped and renumbered as the 2nd congressional district and he ran for reelection there against Republican Eli Crane. The new district was made significantly more Republican than its predecessor, as it gained heavily Republican Prescott. O'Halleran lost to Crane in the general election, winning only in the district's most Democratic counties, Coconino and

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

Tenure

117th Congress (2021–23)

O'Halleran was at the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

on January 6, 2021, to certify the results of the

2020 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala H ...

when the Capitol was stormed. He was moved to a safe location along with other members of Congress. He voted in support of a resolution calling for Vice President

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

to use the

Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution addresses issues related to presidential succession and disability. It clarifies that the Vice President of the United States, vice president becomes President of th ...

to remove Trump from office. Days later, he voted for the

second impeachment of Donald Trump Donald Trump, serving as the 45th president of the United States, was impeached for the second time on January 13, 2021, one week before his term expired. On that date, the House of Representatives adopted one article of impeachment again ...

. In February, O'Halleran voted in support of the

American Rescue Plan The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to sp ...

Committee assignments

* Committee on Agriculture ** Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit ** Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry ** Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management *

Committee on Energy and Commerce A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

** Subcommittee on Communications and Technology ** Subcommittee on Energy ** Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce

Caucus memberships

(chair for communications) *

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily liberals and centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a liberal-to-moderate approach to fiscal matte ...

* Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus * Problem Solvers Caucus

Political positions

As of November 2022, O'Halleran had voted in line with President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

's stated position 100% of the time. He was a chair of the

Abortion

O'Halleran describes himself as

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...

but has a mixed record on abortion issues. In the

Arizona state senate The Arizona State Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the US state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members each representing an average of 219,859 constituents (2009 figure ...

, he voted in favor of a ban on abortion after 20 weeks. O'Halleran opposed the 2022 overturning of ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

'', calling it "a mammoth setback for women, families and our nation."

Energy and oil

According to

On the Issues On the Issues or OnTheIssues is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization providing information to American voters on American candidates, primarily via their website. The organization was started in 1996, went non-profit in 2000, and is ...

, in 2008 O'Halleran introduced HB 2613, an act that would give businesses using renewable energy property tax incentives.

Foreign policy

According to On the Issues, in 2017 O'Halleran endorsed a

two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

despite Israeli settlements on the West Bank.

Government spending

In March 2018, O'Halleran criticized the Trump administration for seeking to cut funding for agencies and programs including the

Economic Development Administration The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that provides grants and technical assistance to economically distressed communities in order to generate new employment, help retain exis ...

Gun policy

After the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, part of the Miami metropolitan area, Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 18 ot ...

in Parkland, Florida, O'Halleran, who had long supported expanded background checks but opposed an assault-weapon ban, suggested he might shift toward a stronger position on gun control. He said: "At times you have to look at yourself in the mirror and do the right thing and say forget about the political consequences."

Immigration

When Trump ordered a travel ban on visitors and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations in January 2017, O'Halleran said that the order "does not represent our nation's values" and that it violated the Constitution and "the bedrock ideals of our democracy". In April 2017, O'Halleran criticized Attorney General

Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United Stat ...

's tougher new guidelines on expelling illegal immigrants who belong to criminal gangs. He said: "I have no problem with getting the felons out of the country. But some of these people that they're taking out of the country, they have children that are Americans, and they have not had a violent felony conviction. Here we are, taking mothers away from their children." O'Halleran was part of a group of Arizona Democrats who, in an August 2017 letter to Trump, urged him not to pardon former

Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...

chief Sheriff

Joe Arpaio Joseph Michael Arpaio (; born June 14, 1932) is an American former law enforcement officer and politician. He was the Sheriffs in the United States, Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, ...

, who had been convicted in a federal court of racially profiling Latinos as part of border patrols.

Qualified immunity

In 2021, O'Halleran was among a group of Democrats who sought to remove a provision from a police reform bill that would end

qualified immunity In the United States, qualified immunity is a legal principle of federal law that grants government officials performing discretionary (optional) functions immunity from lawsuits for damages unless the plaintiff shows that the official violated "c ...

for police officers accused of misconduct.

Personal life

O'Halleran and his wife Pat live in unincorporated

Yavapai County Yavapai County ( ) is a county near the center of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 236,209, making it the fourth-most populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Prescott. Yavapai County comprises the Pr ...

(with a Sedona address). They have three grown children and four grandchildren. O'Halleran is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. On June 7, 2023, O'Halleran was named Senior Advisor for the

Natural Resources Conservation Service Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and ...

of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Electoral history

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohalleran, Tom 1946 births American Roman Catholics Arizona independents Arizona Republicans Arizona state senators Chicago Police Department officers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona Catholics from Arizona Living people Members of the Arizona House of Representatives People from Sedona, Arizona Politicians from Chicago 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives