Background
His father (also named Thomas Gear) was Mayor of Hampton, Virginia from 1980 to 1982.
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Tom Gear
Edit ProfileCareer
He represented the 91st district on the Virginia Peninsula, made up of the city of Poquoson plus parts of York County and the city of Hampton. He resigned his seat on December 31, 2010 citing health problems. Gear is a graduate of Kecoughtan High School in Hampton, Virginia.
Gear was a commercial printer.
The owner of Gear Up Printing. He was on Hampton City Council from 1998 to 2001.
2005
Gear was re-elected in the November 6, 2005 General Election with 11,057 (5943%) votes, versus 7,419 (3988%) votes for Independent candidate Randy A. Gilliland, with 128 voters casting write in votes. Voter turnout was 47.69%.
2007
Gear was re-elected in the November 6, 2007 General Election with 9,156 (9315%) votes, with 673 voters casting write in votes.
Voter turnout was 24.06%. 2009
Gear was up for re-election in a three way race with Independent Gordon C. Helsel, Junior. the then-current Mayor of the City of Poquoson, Virginia. Helsel has run on the Republican ticket in the past, but did not secure the Republican nomination for this election.
Republican Gear captured 9,576 votes (48 percent).
Independent Helsel finished in second with 6,463 votes (about 33 percent). Democrat Eure finished third in the race with 3,757 votes (19 percent).
Teddy Thompson controversy
Tom Gear sponsored and fought for legislation giving Teddy P. Thompson $270,000 for spending seven years in prison for a robbery he did not commit. Since the legislation passed, Thompson has committed three misdemeanors, including two assault charges and a breach of peace count, and on August 17, 2009 Thompson faced revocation of a suspended sentence on an older robbery charge, for which he received a suspended sentence.
Hampton judicial appointment controversy
In the 2007 session, Virginia General Assembly members representing Hampton reached a tentative deal to fill nominations for several Hampton judgeships that have been vacant for six years.
Several democrats also voted against the resolution. During the 2009 General Assembly Session Gear Owens finally removed her name from consideration.
Membership
He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 until 2010.
