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 for Virginia's 5th congressional district. A Republican, Garrett formerly represented the 22nd district in the Virginia Senate. In November 2022, Garrett announced he would run for the Virginia House of Delegates in 2023. Early life and education Thomas Garrett was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Thomas Alexander Garrett Sr. and his wife, Lois. Garrett is a graduate of Louisa County High School and earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Richmond. Career Garrett served for six years in the United States Army, where he was a Field Artillery officer. Commonwealth's attorney Garrett served as an Assistant Attorney General under Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell. In 2007, he was elected Commonwealth's Attorney for Louisa County. State Senate After the General Assembly 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 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 in Virginia's 5th congressional district. In the November 2016 general election, Garrett defeated Democratic nominee Jane Dittmar, the former chairwoman of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. Garrett won with 58.2% of the vote to Dittmar's 41.6%. 2018 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 kids 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 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