Following his graduation from Allison-Bristow High School in 2000, Thomas enrolled at Drake University in Des Moines, where he was elected Student Body President at the end of his sophomore year. In 2004, he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy.

After briefly working as a public policy analyst in Des Moines, Thomas earned a Master’s degree and PhD in political science at Louisiana State University. Following a one-year appointment as a Visiting Research Fellow at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, he accepted a professorship at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. While at McNeese, he taught courses in constitutional law, American politics, and ancient and modern political thought.

After teaching for four years, Thomas decided to return to rural Iowa to start a family and begin a career in public service as a prosecuting attorney. Although he was still unmarried, he knew he would someday have children, and he wanted to provide them with an upbringing similar to his own. Accordingly, in the fall of 2014, he enrolled at the University of Iowa College of Law, thereby starting him on a pathway back to rural Iowa.

While in law school, Thomas was named the law school’s best oralist and top overall advocate. He also served as President of the law school’s chapter of the Federalist Society. In May 2017, he graduated with his juris doctorate and accepted a position as the Assistant County Attorney for Greene County. Later that year, he married Dr. Susan Gaines, and in October 2018, they welcomed their first child, a daughter, into the world.

In November 2018, Thomas was elected Greene County Attorney. He is the first person in Iowa history to win an elective partisan office as a member of the Libertarian Party. As County Attorney, he has aggressively prosecuted violent crimes in Greene County; assumed responsibility for most of the County’s civil work, which had previously been outsourced to private law firms at taxpayer expense; drafted and facilitated the implementation of a county public records policy to ensure governmental transparency; oversaw the transition to a paperless office, thereby improving the efficiency of the administration of justice and reducing costs to taxpayers; and partnered with a nonprofit association to provide probation services in Greene County to aid criminal offenders with their rehabilitation and reintegration into the community as contributing members of society.

Thomas and Susan are proud to call Greene County their home.