Tom Graves (R-GA-9)

Tom Graves Congressman Georgia District 9

Tom Graves Biography from House.gov

Biography of John Thomas “Tom” Graves, Jr.

U.S. Representative Tom Graves entered Congress in June 2010 after serving seven and half years in the Georgia General Assembly. He represents Georgia’s 9th Congressional District which touches the northern suburbs of metro Atlanta to the northwest corner bordering Alabama and Tennessee.

In Congress, Tom serves on the House Committee on Appropriations, which funds the federal government. This assignment gives Tom a central role in the spending cut debate, as he works to root out government inefficiency and waste, and reform Congress into a more disciplined body that focuses on saving, not spending, taxpayer dollars. Within that full Committee, Tom serves on three Appropriations Subcommittees: Agriculture; Commerce, Justice and Science; and Financial Services.

In the Georgia General Assembly, Tom authored legislation that was nationally recognized and designed to help small businesses put Georgians back to work through a series of tax credits, cuts, and incentives for small businesses. After serving nearly four terms, Tom left the legislature in order to seek Congressional seat left vacated by former 9th District Rep. Nathan Deal.

Tom and his family live on their farm in Ranger, Georgia. Born in St. Petersburg, Florida, Tom spent his early years in White, Georgia and later attended and graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.B.A in Finance. He and his wife Julie have three children and they are active members of Belmont Baptist Church in Calhoun.

Biography from Graves for Congress

Congressman Tom Graves is a conservative Republican serving the 9th District of Georgia.

Tom uses our conservative North Georgia values as a guide in his decision making and has been recognized as a leader who is not afraid to stand up to the status quo and fight for less government and more personal freedom.

Before his recent election to Congress, Tom served in the Georgia General Assembly for 7 1/2 years. He served on the Transportation, Ways and Means and Health and Human Services committees and was Vice Chairman of the Motor Vehicles committee. He chaired numerous subcommittees including State Highways, Tax Reform and General Health and served in several leadership positions including Senior Deputy Whip.

Tom authored legislation in the State House that was was nationally recognized and designed to helped small businesses and put Georgians back to work through a series of tax credits, cuts, and incentives for businesses.

Tom has received numerous honors for standing up for our conservative principles while serving in the General Assembly, including “2009 Legislator of the Year” from the American Legislative Exchange Council, the “2009 Legislator of the Year” from the 9th District Republican Party, “Guardian of Small Business” from the National Federation of Independent Business, “Legislator of the Year” from the Georgia Retail Association and was one of only two state legislators in the country selected by the Freedom Works Foundation to receive the “Legislative Entrepreneur of the Year Award” for his tireless efforts to stem the tide of expansive government and to reduce the tax burden on Georgians. Tom was also one of a handful of elected officials invited to speak at the 9-12 National Taxpayer March on Washington and Tea Party in Washington, DC, speaking to a crowd of over 1.5 million people. He has been an avid promoter of the FairTax.

On March 23, 2010, after serving nearly 4 terms as a representative in the Georgia State Assembly, Tom resigned in order to qualify for the special election that was held May 11th to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Nathan Deal. Following the June 8th special election run-off Graves was elected to serve the people of the 9th District and will be sworn in during the third week of June.

Born in St. Petersburg, Florida, Tom spent his early years in White, Georgia where he graduated from Cass High School. He later went on to attend and graduate from the University of Georgia, where he earned a B.B.A., specializing in Finance. Tom is a small businessman who owns and manages multi-family housing and commercial retail properties.

He is a past member of the Gordon County Board of Elections and an active member of the Chamber of Commerce. He is also a Coverdell Leadership Institute Graduate and serves as a regular guest speaker.

Tom and his family live on their farm in Ranger, Georgia. He and his wife, Julie, have three children, JoAnn, John, and Janey. The Graves attend Belmont Baptist Church in Calhoun where Tom is an ordained Deacon.

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