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{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Thomas M. "Tom" Whatley
| office=Alabama State Senator<br> for District 27 (Lee, Russell, and Tallapoosa counties)
| term_start=November 3, 2010
| term_end=
| preceded=T. D. Little
| succeeded=
| birth_date=August 7, 1970
| birth_place=Opelika<br>Lee County<br>[[Alabama]]
| citizenship=[[United States|American]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| spouse=
| children=
| alma_mater=Auburn University<br>
Thomas Goode Jones<br> School of Law<br>
[[United States Army]] Command and General Staff College
| occupation=[[Lawyer]]<br>
Lieutenant colonel in the Alabama Army National Guard
| religion=[[United Methodist]]
| residence=Auburn<br>Lee County<br>Alabama
}}
'''Thomas M. Whatley''', known as '''Tom Whatley''' (born September 21, 1967), is a [[lawyer]] from Auburn, [[Alabama]], who has since 2010 represented District 27 in the Alabama State Senate. A [[Republican Party|Republican]], his district encompasses Lee, Russell, and Tallapoosa counties in the eastern portion of his state;

A native of Opelika in Lee County, Whatley graduated in 1994 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in public administration from Auburn University; four years later, he obtained his [[Juris Doctor]] degree through the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law at Faulkner University in the capital city of [[Montgomery]], Alabama. Since 1988, he has been a member of the Alabama Army National Guard. He was sent abroad during the War on Terrorism in 2003 and 2005 to 2007. He received ten medals of commendation for his service. In 2009, he graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Lee, [[Virginia]]. He holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the National Guard. Prior to his state Senate service, he was a member of the Alabama Public Service Commission; he has also been the chief of staff to the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. He is a member of the Auburn [[United Methodist]] Church and the Opelika Kiwanis International.<ref name=pvs>{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/121573/tom-whatley#.WejuSbpFzb1|title=Tom Whatley's  Biography|accessdate=October 19, 2017}}</ref>

In 2010, Whatley, with the support of the [[Tea Party]] movement, unseated the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Senator T. D. Little, 21,245 votes (55 percent) to 17,379 (45 percent).<ref name=ballotpedia/> In 2014, Whatley was challenged for a second nomination by fellow Republican Andy Carter, who ran on a pledge to streamline state government, oppose tax increases of any kind, oppose [[abortion]], and restore integrity to public office.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Andy_Carter|title=Andy Carter|publisher=Ballotpedia.org|accessdate=October 19, 2017}}</ref> Whatley prevailed, 7,950 votes (53.1 percent) to Carter's 7,010 (46.9 percent). In the [[general election]], Whatley defeated the Democrat Haylee Moss, 19,808 (65.5 percent) to 10,358 (34.3 percent).<ref name=ballotpedia>{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Tom_Whatley|title=Tom Whatley|publisher=Ballotpedia.org|accessdate=October 19, 2017}}</ref> In 2010, Whatley endorsed [[Newt Gingrich]] for the Republican presidential nomination later won by [[Mitt Romney]], who then lost to incumbent [[Barack H. Obama]].<ref name=ballotpedia/>

Whatley is the chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Committee and sits on these  committees: (1) Banking and Insurance, (2) Confirmations,  (3) Finance and Taxation Education, (4) Health and Human Services, (5) Judiciary, (6) Transportation and Energy, and (7) Veterans and Military Affairs.<ref name=pvs/>

In 2013, Senator Whatley co-sponsored drug testing for certain recipients of the public welfare and voted to prohibit the enforcement of federal firearms laws by state police. In 2014, he supported legislation which banned [[smoking]] in most public places. In 2015, he voted to establish public [[charter school]]s in Alabama and to require couples who marry to sign a marriage contract, rather than to obtain a marriage license. He co-sponsored any attempt to expand [[Medicaid]] in his state. He voted to increase the cigarette tax, which gained majority approval. In 2016, he voted to prohibit the removal of monuments from public property, a measure that passed the Senate, 22-9. He voted to prohibit abortion providers from locating their facilities near schools. He voted to permit concealed handguns to be carried in vehicles without a permit. He voted with the majority to establishment a state lottery, which passed the Senate 21-12. In 2017, he voted to permit the large Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham to establish its own police force. He voted for the bill which prohibits employers in Alabama from inquiring about past criminal histories of job applicants. He did not vote on the issue of using nitrogen in carrying out death penalty executions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/121573/tom-whatley#.Wej1OLpFzb0|title=Tom Whatley's Voting Records|publisher=Project Vote Smart|accessdate=October 19, 2017}}</ref>

Whatley is an early supporter of [[conservative]] Republican former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court [[Roy Moore]] for the [[United States Senate]] seat vacated by now [[Attorney General of the United States|Attorney General]] [[Jeff Sessions]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/08/roy_moore_gets_endorsements_fr.html|title=Roy Moore gets endorsements from 14 Alabama lawmakers|publisher=Al.com|date=August 22, 2017|author=Mike Casson|accessdate=October 20, 2017}}</ref> Moore, however, was defeated by the [[liberal]] Democrat [[Doug Jones]] in the December 12 special election to fill the remaining five years of Sessions' term.