| Tom Rooney | |
| Birth Place: | Evanston, Illinois |
| State Senate: | Illinois |
| District: | 27th |
| Predecessor: | Matt Murphy |
| Successor: | Ann Gillespie |
| Office4: | Mayor of Rolling Meadows |
| Predecessor4: | Ken Nelson |
| Successor4: | Len Prejna |
| Party: | Republican |
| Spouse: | Sue Daniels Colleen Heffernan (d. 2005) |
| Children: | 4 |
| Residence: | Rolling Meadows, Illinois |
| Alma Mater: | Loyola University |
| Profession: | Teacher |
Tom Rooney (born March 24, 1968) is a former Republican member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 27th district from 2016 to 2019. Previously, he served as Mayor of Rolling Meadows and as a member of the Rolling Meadows city council.
Rooney received a B.A. in History from Loyola University Chicago and an M.P.A. from Northern Illinois University. He is a graduate of Evanston Township High School and was elected Youth Governor in the Illinois State Youth and Government program.
He and his wife, Sue, have four sons: Chris, Brian, Adam, and Christopher.[1]
He has taught social studies at West Leyden High School for over 20 years, and continued to teach while serving in the legislature.[2]
In 2000, he was appointed to a vacancy on the Rolling Meadows city council, and he was re-elected in 2001 and 2005. He decided not to run for re-election in 2009 due to his commitment to term limits. In 2011, he was elected Mayor of Rolling Meadows and ran unopposed for a second term in 2015. In the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Rooney was a delegate pledged to the presidential campaign of Marco Rubio.[3]
In September 2016, he was appointed to the Illinois Senate to replace outgoing Senator Matt Murphy.[4] [5] In the 2018 general election, he lost 52%-48% to Democratic candidate Ann Gillespie.[6]