Tom Whatley

Tom Whatley

Republican Party

Prior offices

Alabama State Senate District 27

Successor: Jay Hovey

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Elections and appointments

Last election

May 24, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Auburn University, 1994

Law

Faulkner University, 1998

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army National Guard

Personal

Religion

Christian: Methodist

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Personal website

Personal Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

Tom Whatley (Republican Party) was a member of the Alabama State Senate, representing District 27. He assumed office on November 3, 2010. He left office on November 9, 2022.

Whatley (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Alabama State Senate to represent District 27. He lost in the Republican primary on May 24, 2022.

Biography

Whatley earned his B.S. in public administration from Auburn University and his J.D. from Thomas Goode Jones School of Law. His professional experience includes working for the Alabama Public Service Commission and working as chief of staff for the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Whatley has served in the Alabama National Guard, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Whatley was assigned to the following committees:

• Banking and Insurance Committee, no longer in office
• Confirmations Committee
• Finance and Taxation Education Committee
• Healthcare Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee, Chair
• Joint Legislative Committee on State Parks
• Judicial System Study Commission

2021-2022

Whatley was assigned to the following committees:

• Joint Legislative Committee on State Parks
• Transportation Committee
• Banking and Insurance Committee
• Confirmations Committee
• Finance and Taxation Education Committee
• Healthcare Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee, Chair
• Energy Policy Committee

2019-2020

Whatley was assigned to the following committees:

• Finance and Taxation Education Committee
• Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, Chair
• Banking and Insurance Committee
• Confirmations Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Healthcare Committee
• Energy Policy Committee

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Whatley served on the following committees:

2011-2012

Whatley served on these committees in the 2011-2012 legislative session:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2022

See also: Alabama State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Alabama State Senate District 27

Jay Hovey defeated Sherri Reese in the general election for Alabama State Senate District 27 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay Hovey (R)	70.2	26,014
		Sherri Reese (D)	29.7	10,996
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	63

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 37,073
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Sherri Reese advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama State Senate District 27.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 27

Jay Hovey defeated incumbent Tom Whatley in the Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 27 on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay Hovey	50.0	8,373
		Tom Whatley	50.0	8,372

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 16,745
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2018

See also: Alabama State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Alabama State Senate District 27

Incumbent Tom Whatley defeated Nancy Carlton Bendinger in the general election for Alabama State Senate District 27 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Whatley (R)	59.0	29,741
		Nancy Carlton Bendinger (D)	40.9	20,587
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	50

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 50,378 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Alabama State Senate District 27

Nancy Carlton Bendinger advanced from the Democratic primary for Alabama State Senate District 27 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Nancy Carlton Bendinger

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 27

Incumbent Tom Whatley advanced from the Republican primary for Alabama State Senate District 27 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Tom Whatley

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2014

See also: Alabama State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Alabama State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014; a runoff election took place where necessary on July 15, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 7, 2014. Haylee Moss was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Tom Whatley defeated Andy Carter in the Republican primary. Whatley defeated Moss in the general election.^[1][2][3][4]

Alabama State Senate District 27, General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tom Whatley Incumbent	65.5%	19,808
	Democratic	Haylee Moss	34.3%	10,358
	NA	Write-In	0.2%	56
Total Votes				30,222

Alabama State Senate, District 27 Republican Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Tom Whatley Incumbent	53.1%	7,950
Andy Carter	46.9%	7,010
Total Votes		14,960

2010

See also: Alabama State Senate elections, 2010

Whatley defeated incumbent Democrat T.D. Little in the November 2 general election.^[5]

Alabama State Senate, District 27 General election (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Tom Whatley (R)		21,245
T.D. Little (D)		17,379

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Tom Whatley did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2010

Whatley's website highlighted the following campaign issues:

• Economy

Excerpt: "There are many things that we can do to grow our economy but most importantly we must cut wasteful spending and reduce taxes on our small businesses and families."

• Education

Excerpt: "We must help our young people develop the necessary skills to perform to the highest standards, not only by emphasizing reading, science, and math skills, but also by putting time and money into vocational programs such as agriculture and health services education."

• Ethics

Excerpt: "It's time to end corruption in Montgomery. The practice of career politicians voting themselves a 62% pay raise and double-dipping in our junior college system with do-nothing, no-show jobs must stop."

• Military

Excerpt: "We must support our Alabama National Guard."

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Endorsements

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Tom Whatley endorsed Newt Gingrich in the 2012 presidential election.^[6]

2010

In 2010, Whatley's endorsements included the following:^[7]

• The Alabama Tea Party Express

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Alabama

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Alabama scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2022

In 2022, the Alabama State Legislature was in session from January 11 to April 7.

• Alabama Policy Institute

Legislators are scored on their votes on the association's policy platform.

• National Federation of Independent Business

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to small business issues.

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

See also

2022 Elections

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External links

Footnotes

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