Representative Tom O’Halleran

Thomas Charles O’Halleran (born January 24, 1946) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Arizona in the United States Congress from 2017 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party during his congressional tenure, he represented Arizona’s 1st congressional district and contributed to the legislative process during three terms in office. Beginning his political career as a Republican, he later became known as a centrist Democrat and served as chair of communications for the Blue Dog Coalition. On June 7, 2023, he was appointed as a senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the administration of President Joe Biden.

O’Halleran was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Providence St. Mel School in Chicago and briefly attended Lewis University for one year before entering public service. He joined the Chicago Police Department in 1966 and later attended DePaul University for one year while working. His early life in Chicago and his experience in law enforcement helped shape his views on public safety, community service, and government responsibility.

From 1966 to 1975, O’Halleran served with the Chicago Police Department, where he worked as a police officer for nearly a decade. After leaving the police force, he transitioned into the financial sector, becoming a member of the Chicago Board of Trade. He operated his own futures trading business, focusing on futures contracts on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes. This combination of law enforcement and financial-market experience provided him with a background in both public safety and economic issues that would later inform his legislative priorities.

O’Halleran’s political career began in Arizona after he relocated to the state. Then a Republican, he was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives, where he served from 2001 to 2007. He subsequently won election to the Arizona State Senate, representing the 1st district from 2007 to 2009. In the 2008 Republican primary, he was unseated by Steve Pierce, ending his tenure in the state senate. After leaving the Arizona Legislature, O’Halleran remained active in public affairs, hosting a radio show on KAZM in Sedona, Arizona, where he discussed policy issues and community concerns.

In 2014, O’Halleran left the Republican Party, citing disagreements with its policies on education, water, and child welfare. That same year, he ran as an independent for the 6th district seat in the Arizona State Senate, losing the general election by approximately three percentage points. On August 6, 2015, he announced his candidacy as a Democrat for Arizona’s 1st congressional district. He explained his switch of party affiliation as rooted in his positive attitude toward government and his support for regulations designed to increase the use of wind and solar energy. In May 2016, he was named to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” list, signaling that his race was a national priority for the party. On August 30, 2016, he won the Democratic primary against Miguel Olivas and went on to defeat Republican Paul Babeu and Green Party candidate Ray Parrish in the general election with 51 percent of the vote.

O’Halleran served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 3, 2017, to January 3, 2023, during a significant period in American political history. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for his 2018 reelection bid and defeated Republican Wendy Rogers in the general election with 54 percent of the vote. In 2020, he was reelected again, defeating Republican nominee Tiffany Shedd with 51.6 percent of the vote. During his time in Congress, he participated actively in the democratic process and represented the interests of his largely rural and Native American constituents in northern and eastern Arizona.

In Congress, O’Halleran served on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Within the Agriculture Committee, he served on the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit; the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry; and the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management. On the Energy and Commerce Committee, he served on the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, the Subcommittee on Energy, and the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce. He was a member of several caucuses, including the Blue Dog Coalition—where he served as chair for communications—the New Democrat Coalition, the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. As of November 2022, he had voted in line with President Joe Biden’s stated position 100 percent of the time, reflecting his alignment with the administration’s legislative agenda.

O’Halleran’s congressional service included direct involvement in major national events. He was at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election when the Capitol was stormed. He was moved to a secure location along with other members of Congress. In the aftermath, he voted in support of a resolution calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office, and shortly thereafter he voted in favor of Trump’s second impeachment. In February 2021, he voted in support of the American Rescue Plan, a major COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus package.

Following the 2021 decennial redistricting, O’Halleran’s district was reshaped and renumbered as Arizona’s 2nd congressional district. The new district boundaries made the seat significantly more Republican, notably by adding the heavily Republican city of Prescott. O’Halleran ran for reelection in this new configuration in 2022 against Republican Eli Crane. In the general election, he lost to Crane, carrying only the district’s most Democratic-leaning counties, including Coconino and Apache. His service in the House concluded on January 3, 2023, after three consecutive terms.

After leaving Congress, O’Halleran continued his involvement in public service at the federal level. On June 7, 2023, he was appointed as a senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Joe Biden administration, drawing on his legislative experience on agricultural, rural development, and economic issues.