Representative Tom Graves

John Thomas Graves Jr. (born February 3, 1970) is an American businessman and Republican politician who represented Georgia in the United States House of Representatives from 2010 to 2020. Over the course of six terms in Congress, he served first as the U.S. representative for Georgia’s 9th congressional district from 2010 to 2013, and then for the newly created 14th congressional district from 2013 until his resignation in 2020. During this decade in federal office, Graves participated actively in the legislative process and represented the interests of his north Georgia constituents during a significant period in American political history.

Before his service in Congress, Graves built a career in business and state-level politics. A resident of Ranger, Georgia, he entered public office as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, where he served as a Republican from 2003 to 2010. In the state legislature he developed a reputation as a fiscal conservative and gained experience in legislative procedure and policy formation, laying the groundwork for his later federal service. His business background informed his approach to economic and regulatory issues, and his years in the Georgia House positioned him as a prominent Republican figure in the state by the end of the decade.

Graves’s congressional career began with a special election in 2010. In May 2010, he won the special election to replace Representative Nathan Deal, who had resigned to focus on his ultimately successful campaign for Governor of Georgia. On June 8, 2010, Graves prevailed in the run-off for the special election against former state senator Lee Hawkins. He then faced Hawkins two more times, in a regularly scheduled primary election and a subsequent run-off, before securing the seat outright and winning the November 2, 2010 general election unopposed. Following his election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia’s 9th district, Graves joined the House Republican Whip team, reflecting his alignment with party leadership and his role in helping to marshal votes on key legislation. He left the Whip team in 2011, but rejoined it in January 2013 and remained a member through much of his subsequent service.

The redistricting process following the 2010 census significantly altered Graves’s political landscape. His home in Ranger, along with most of the northwestern portion of the old 9th district, was drawn into the newly created 14th congressional district ahead of the 2012 elections. Graves opted to run for reelection in this new district, which was at least as strongly Republican as his previous constituency. In the November 6, 2012 general election, he defeated Democratic challenger Daniel “Danny” Grant with 73 percent of the vote, inaugurating his tenure as the representative for Georgia’s 14th district beginning in January 2013.

Graves consolidated his position in subsequent election cycles, often facing only intraparty competition. In one Republican primary, he received 74 percent of the vote against activist Kenneth Herron and then faced no opposition in the general election. In another primary contest, he secured 76 percent of the vote against perennial candidate Allan Levene and activist Mickey Tuck, again advancing to a general election in which he had no opponent. In a later race, he easily won re-election over Democratic challenger Steven Lamar Foster, whose campaign was overshadowed by his arrest on DUI charges and widely reported remarks during that arrest that he “hated this county.” Throughout these campaigns, Graves’s strong margins reflected the solidly Republican character of his district and his standing among conservative voters.

During his time in Congress, Graves was involved in party politics at the national level as well as in legislative activity. As a member of the House Republican Whip team, he played a role in internal party deliberations and vote-counting efforts. In the 2016 Republican presidential primary, he publicly endorsed Senator Marco Rubio, signaling his preference in the crowded field. In the same statement, he notably declined to support then-candidate Donald J. Trump, saying, “I have trouble seeing how he lines up with the great tradition of Lincoln and Reagan, and I’m concerned that many of his statements run afoul of the Constitution, my values and my beliefs.” His stance during the 2016 primary highlighted ideological and stylistic divisions within the Republican Party during that period.

Graves’s decade in Congress spanned major national debates over fiscal policy, health care, and the role of the federal government, and he consistently approached these issues from a conservative, pro-business perspective shaped by his earlier career and state legislative experience. On December 5, 2019, he announced that he would not run for re-election in 2020, signaling the end of his congressional tenure. He subsequently resigned from the House of Representatives on October 4, 2020, leaving office before the completion of his final term. Following his departure from Congress, Graves remained known as a prominent Georgia Republican and former legislator whose career combined business experience, state legislative service, and a decade of representation in the U.S. House.