Tom Rooney

Thomas Joseph Rooney (born November 21, 1970) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Florida from 2009 to 2019.

He graduated from the Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Florida in 1989.

In college, Rooney played football for Syracuse University and Washington & Jefferson College outside Pittsburgh where he earned his B.A. in English Literature.

He was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

Rooney attended the University of Florida, where he received an M.A. in Political Science.

He attended the University of Miami School of Law, where he received his J.D. and met his wife, Tara Lombardi.

They became members of The Florida Bar in 1999.

He is not related to fellow Republican representative Francis Rooney.

After law school, both Rooney and his wife joined the U.S. Army JAG Corps.

In 2001, Tom and Tara, along with their newborn son, were stationed at Fort Hood on 9/11.

Rooney spent more than four years on Active Duty in the United States Army JAG Corps.

He served as Special Assistant U.S Attorney at Fort Hood in Texas, prosecuting all civilian crimes on post.

Rooney also served in the 1st Cavalry Division.

In 2002, Rooney began teaching Constitutional and Criminal Law as an Asst. Prof. in the Dept. of Law at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

He received two Army Commendation Medals for his service.

Tom and Tara Rooney each completed active duty with the rank of captain.

During his active duty time in the JAG Corps, he served with fellow future Congressman Patrick Murphy, a Democrat from Pennsylvania who was the first Iraq War veteran elected to the U.S. Congress.

As his first job out of college, Tom Rooney worked for U.S. Senator Connie Mack III, who had worked with Tom's father, Patrick J. Rooney Sr., at one time.

Rooney started in Senator Mack's mailroom: "We opened every letter and that's where I learned what people's issues were. It really helped shape a blank slate in my life."

After getting his Master's degree, he returned to Florida, where he went to work as an Assistant Attorney General.

While working as a criminal prosecutor for Attorney General Charlie Crist, he joined the Board of Directors with "The Children's Place at Home Safe," a Palm Beach County shelter that helps abused, neglected, and abandoned children.

In 2005, Rooney was named CEO of Home Safe; because of his work there, Governor Jeb Bush appointed him to the Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County Board of Directors in January 2006.

After his second year as director, Rooney returned to the Board of Directors of Children's Place and resumed his practice of law in Stuart, Florida with the law firm of Kramer, Sopko & Levenstein, P.A. He is a graduate of Leadership Palm Beach County.

Rooney challenged Democratic incumbent Tim Mahoney.

Mahoney had narrowly won the Republican-leaning district in 2006, after five-term incumbent Mark Foley abruptly resigned under a cloud of scandal.

Since Foley resigned a little more than a month before the election, Florida election law required Foley's name to remain on the general election ballot, with votes for him being transferred to his replacement, State Representative Joe Negron.

It was widely believed that this significantly undermined Negron's chances, as many voters would be reluctant to cast a ballot in Foley's name.

Given Mahoney's narrow margin of victory, coupled with the unusual circumstances surrounding the 2006 election and this district's Republican bent, the 16th District was viewed as one of Republicans' best opportunities to take a congressional seat from the Democrats in 2008.

In the Republican Party primary, Rooney was endorsed by Florida's Governor, Charlie Crist, and defeated State Representative Gayle Harrell and investment banker Hal Valeche.

Mahoney, aided by incumbency and having burnished his image as a moderate Blue Dog Democrat, consistently led Rooney in polls throughout the 2008 election cycle until mid-October 2008, when it was revealed that Mahoney, who had promoted a family values image and campaigned against corruption in contrast to the disgraced Foley, had engaged in multiple extramarital affairs and secretly paid off his mistresses to conceal them.

This revelation shifted the race decisively in Rooney's favor, even causing the Palm Beach Post to take the rare step of rescinding its previous endorsement of Mahoney and endorsing Rooney instead.

Rooney ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Jim Horn and write-in candidate William Dean.

For his first two terms, Rooney represented a district stretching from the Treasure Coast through the Everglades to Port Charlotte on the other side of the state.

He represented FL's 16th congressional district from 2009 to 2013 and FL's 17th congressional district from 2013 to 2019.

He is a member of the Republican Party.

Rooney announced in February 2018 that he would retire from Congress and would not seek re-election in 2018.

He serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

Rooney was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

When Tom was 14, his father, Patrick J. Rooney Sr., moved with the family to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida where they owned a dog track and gambling business.