Matt Gaetz Biography
Florida native Matt Gaetz is an American lawyer and politician serving as a representative in the U.S for Florida’s 1st congressional district since 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party, his district covers a large portion of the western Florida Panhandle, including Pensacola, Navarre, as well as his home of Fort Walton Beach.
Prior to serving in Congress, Gaetz was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the state’s 4th district, which includes most of Okaloosa County, from 2010 to 2016.
Matt Gaetz Education
Matt Gaetz graduated from Florida State University in 2003. He also joined the William and Mary College in 2007 where he graduated with a J.D degree in Law.
Matt Gaetz Florida House of Representatives
In 2010, Matt Gaetz followed the resignation of Republican state representative Ray Sansom due to corruption charges, ran in the special election to succeed Sansom in the 4th District, which included southern Santa Rosa County and Okaloosa County.
The crowded Republican primary includes Craig Barker, Kabe Woods, Jerry G. Melvin, and Bill Garvie, Gaetz won with 43% of the vote. During the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Jan Fernald, winning 66% of the vote.
He was unopposed for a full term in 2010. In 2012, following the reconfiguration of Florida House of Representatives districts, Gaetz’s district no longer contained any of Santa Rosa County. He was re-elected, unopposed, in 2012 and 2014.
He decided to run for the special elections to represent the 4th District which included southern Santa Rosa County and Okaloosa County. He defeated Democratic nominee Jan Fernald, with a % score of 66% of the votes. He was unopposed for a full term in 2010.
In 2012, following the reconfiguration of Florida House of Representatives districts, Gaetz’s district no longer contained any of Santa Rosa County. He was re-elected, unopposed, in 2012 and 2014.
While serving in the statehouse, he joined the State Senator Joe Negron to propose legislation that was designed to accelerate the execution of many of the 404 inmates on Florida’s death row required the Governor to sign a death warrant for those inmates who have exhausted their appeals, he said, “Only God can judge. But we can sure set up the meeting.”
He also joined the state forces with Senator Greg Evers to propose legislation that eliminated the federal ethanol content mandate that 10% of gasoline sold in Florida contain ethanol; the legislation was signed by Governor Rick Scott in May 2013.
He is also the Chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, which was tasked with reviewing the legislation, he announced before hearings that he would not support changing one damn comma, though he indicated that he would listen to both sides’ testimony during the hearings.
Following the conclusion of the hearings, he authored legislation that would allow defendants who successfully used a “stand your ground” defense during their trial “to apply for a ‘certificate of eligibility’ to expunge information related to ‘stand your ground’ from their criminal records.” He brought the 2008 arrest for driving under the influence, arguing that his mistakes made him who he is and that publicly available mug shots “could be a problem for those unaccustomed to publicity.”
Matt Gaetz Florida Senate
In 2016, Matt Gaetz announced that he would run for the 1st District in the state senate that was held by his father, State Senator Don Gaetz, who was due to be term-limited out of the Senate in 2016.
On March 21, 2016, he withdrew from the state race, choosing instead to run for the U.S. House seat representing Florida’s 1st congressional district; the incumbent, Jeff Miller, had announced eleven days earlier that he would not seek reelection.
On August 30, 2016, he won the Republican primary elections with 35.7% of the votes and defeating Greg Evers (21.5%), Cris Dosev (20.6%), and five other candidates.
This effectively clinched the seat, because the 1st District is the most Republican in Florida, and one of the most Republican in the nation. In the November 8, 2016, general election, Gaetz defeated Democratic candidate Steven Specht with 69 percent of the vote
Matt Gaetz Age
Matt Gaetz was born on May 7, 1982, in Hollywood, Florida, United States. He is 37 years old as of 2019. Matt Gaetz full names are Matthew Louis Gaetz II.
Matt Gaetz Family
Matt Gaetz was born in Hollywood, Florida to Victoria (mother) and Don Gaetz (father) who is also a Florida politician, he grew up in the Fort Walton Beach, Florida area. His father Don represented parts of northwest Florida as a member of the Florida State Senate from 2006 to 2016 and served as Senate president from 2012 to 2014.
His grandfather, Jerry Gaetz, was the mayor of Rugby, North Dakota, and a candidate for lieutenant governor of North Dakota at the 1964 North Dakota Republican Party state convention, where he died of a heart attack.
Matt Gaetz Body Measurements
Height: ft in 5′ 7” (Meters or cm)
Weight: Pounds(lbs) 160 lbs
Shoe Size: Not availble
Body Shape: Not availble
Hair Colour: Not availble
Matt Gaetz Net Worth
Matt Gaetz earns his income from his businesses and from other related organizations. He also earns his income from his work as a politician. He has an estimated net worth of $27 million dollars.
Matt Gaetz Committee
Committee assignments
- Committee on Armed Services
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
- Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
- Committee on the Budget
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet
- Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law
- Republican Study Committee
Matt Gaetz for Congress
Matt Gaetz, is a Congressman in the 116th Congress, and he is also a member of the Armed Services and Judiciary Committees. His work in Congress focuses on national security, tax reform, regulatory reform, and adherence to constitutional principles.
Matt is devoted to the values upon which our country was founded, earning the nickname of “constitutional conservative champion.” Matt is an active member on the Climate Solutions, Reformers, Animal Protection, and Robotics Caucuses.
Matt Gaetz Political positions
Cannabis
Gaetz supports rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug, enabling further research and expanded use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
In 2015 he sponsored a House bill to expand Florida’s Right to Try Act to include medical marijuana. The bill as amended was approved by the governor in March 2016. In September 2017, Gaetz keynoted the American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association’s annual conference.
Donald Trump
On February 23, 2017, Gaetz, worried about protesters disrupting his speaking at his town hall in Pace, Florida, prepared what his staffers called a “non-verbal town hall.” Gaetz printed out part of his speech onto giant boards that he would hold up if he was unable to get a word in.”
One of the signs prepared for Gaetz had the words “Professional Liberal Protestors”. Gaetz arrived 30 minutes late to the town hall meeting, where he faced at least 500 constituents crowded into a bowling alley.
At the meeting he was grilled about his relationship with Donald Trump, his stance on repealing the Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as Obamacare), and his proposal to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
He said that Trump should release his tax returns, but stopped short of saying Congress should subpoena them. Gaetz closed his town hall by shouting Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again”.
In April 2018, Politico described Gaetz as “one of the most enthusiastic defenders of President Trump on cable news” and a “proud Trump protege”. Aaron Blake of The Washington Post referred to him as one of Congress’s “most controversial members,” and one who has “unabashedly aligned himself with Trump on basically all things.”
Economy
Gaetz voted in support of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. He acknowledged that the bill’s pass-through tax deduction would benefit President Trump, and added, “but so many Americans benefit when commercial real estate becomes easier and more accessible.”
Environment
In 2016, Gaetz acknowledged global warming but said he disagrees with the scientific consensus on climate change that human activity is the primary cause. Gaetz said, “In our fervor to protect the environment, we lose sight of economic and scientific reality.”
In April 2017, the Center for American Progress and Vice Media said Gaetz was a climate change denier, citing his 2016 statements. In January 2017, Gaetz proposed legislation to, in his words, “completely abolish” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Matt Gaetz said, our small businesses cannot afford to cover the costs associated with compliance, too often leading to closed doors and unemployed Americans. Sometimes it takes back a legislative power from the EPA and abolishes it permanently.”
In November 2017 Gaetz joined the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. He said I don’t think there’s a scientific debate left to be had on if it is happening. Matt Gaetz also thinks history is going to judge the climate very harshly and he doesn’t want to be one of them.”
He said that he advocates technological innovation and economic incentives that address climate change, and increased federal funds for global warming research by NASA, NOAA, and universities, but that he remains opposed to increased environmental regulation.
Matt Gaetz Foreign policy
Israel
In December 2017, Gaetz supported President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Gaetz said that “Our nation’s embassy is currently in Tel Aviv, which is disrespectful, dismissive, and wrong.
Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem will send the Palestinian Authority a message that their days of denying Israel’s existence are over, and that they must become an honest partner in peace.”
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
In April 2019, after the House passed a resolution withdrawing American support for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, Gaetz was one of nine lawmakers to sign a letter to President Trump requesting a meeting with him and urging him to sign “Senate Joint Resolution 7, which invokes the War Powers Act of 1973 to end unauthorized US military participation in the Saudi-led coalition’s armed conflict against” Houthi forces in Yemen, “initiated in 2015 by the Obama administration.”
The letter asserted that the “Saudi-led coalition’s imposition of an air-land-and-sea blockade as part of its war against Yemen’s Houthis continued to prevent the unimpeded distribution of the vital commodities, and contributing the suffering and death of vast numbers of civilians throughout the country” and that Trump’s approval of the resolution through his signing would give a “powerful signal to the Saudi which led a coalition to bring forth a four-year-old war to a close”.
Gay rights
Gaetz the Florida state representative in 2015, sponsored an amendment with Democratic representative David Richardson to repeal the Florida’s ban on adoptions by same-sex couples. He also persuaded his father, in the Florida State Senate, to support the repeal.
Gun policy
Former National Rifle Association (NRA) president Marion Hammer called Gaetz “one of the most pro-gun members to have ever served in the Florida Legislature.” Gaetz is a “lifetime member” of the NRA, and has an A+ rating from the NRA its highest rating.
When Gaetz served in the Florida House of Representatives, he led an effort to allow Floridians with concealed-weapons permits to carry those weapons openly in public, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
In lobbying for the passage of the bill, Gaetz said that the open carry of weapons was a right “granted not by government but by God.” Gaetz supports Florida’s stand-your-ground law and supported legislation that strengthened it against legal challenges. Gaetz also supports concealed carry reciprocity.
Health care
In October 2017, Gaetz said that the Medicaid expansion permitted by Obamacare fueled the opioid crisis. PolitiFact rated the claim as “mostly false”, noting that “experts were universal in saying that the evidence that Medicaid expansion is somehow fueling the opioid crisis doesn’t exist.”
Immigration
Gaetz opposes sanctuary cities, which opt not to dedicate local law enforcement resources to prosecuting people solely for being undocumented. Upon announcing his run for Congress in 2016, Gaetz said that illegal immigrants were “sucking us dry.”
In January 2018 Gaetz defended a statement by Trump that Haiti and African nations were “shithole” countries, saying that Haiti was covered by “sheet metal and garbage” and in a “disgusting” condition. In October 2018, Gaetz falsely claimed that George Soros paid for a caravan of migrants from Central America to the United States.
Matt Gaetz Robert Mueller’s investigation
In November 2017 Gaetz introduced a congressional resolution calling for Robert Mueller to recuse himself as special counsel because of what were said to be conflicts of interest.
In the resolution Gaetz also asked for a special counsel investigation into the handling of the Hillary Clinton email controversy by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), undue interference by Attorney General Loretta Lynch in the investigation, and the acquisition of Uranium One by the Russian state corporation Rosatom during Mueller’s time as FBI director.
Gaetz stated that he did not trust Mueller to lead the investigation because of Mueller’s alleged involvement in the approval of the Uranium One deal and Mueller’s alleged close relationship with the dismissed FBI director James Comey, a probable person of interest in a proposed new investigation.
After Ohio congressman Jim Jordan’s denial that he was aware of the sexual abuse of Ohio State University wrestlers during the period when Jordan was a coach there, Gaetz said that the allegations came from people in the “deep state” and were intended to reduce the credibility of Jordan’s criticism of Mueller’s investigation of the alleged collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
During Robert Mueller’s testimony to two congressional committees on July 24, 2019, Matt Gaetz told Mueller: that the Russians were lying to Steele and undermine our confidence of the newly elected president, would be a precisely in your purview because you stated in your opening that the organizing principle was to fully and thoroughly investigate Russian interference.
But you weren’t interested in whether the Russians interfered through Steele and if Steele was lying, then you should have charged him with lying like you charged a variety of other people.”
Matt Gaetz Endorsements
In its July–August 2017 issue, Foreign Policy reported that Devin Murphy, a Gaetz legislative aide, had written a resolution that Gaetz brought to the House Judiciary Committee, and that the resolution primarily used content from /r/The_Donald, “a pro-Trump subreddit notorious for both its embrace of conspiracy theories and its gleeful offensiveness.”
The /r/The_Donald posters’ suggestions are represented in “roughly two-thirds of the total finished amendment.” One of the allegations was that James Comey had leaked the investigative matters to New York Times reporter Michael S. Schmidt, Michael beginning is when his age was around 10 years old.
In an email to Wired magazine, Gaetz said, “It is the responsibility of our staff to gather as much information as possible when researching a subject and provide that information for consideration. The company is pride in seeking as much citizen input as possible.”
Relationship with Chuck Johnson
In January 2018, Gaetz invited alt-right Holocaust denier Charles C. Chuck Johnson to attend the Union address with President Donald Trump’s. Gaetz said that he had no “pre-existing” relationship with Johnson and only invited him to attend when Johnson showed up at his office, providing him the ticket which Gaetz’s father could not use due to his bronchitis.
According to Johnson, he was invited by several members of Congress but “took Gaetz’s invitation” because “he’s into stuff on the issues that I care about.” Johnson had previously raised money for the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer. Gaetz said in an interview that Johnson was “not a Holocaust denier, he’s not a white supremacist”.
Drunk driving arrest and speeding tickets
In 2008, Gaetz was arrested under a charge of driving under the influence (DUI) as he was driving back from the Swamp, a nightclub on Okaloosa Island, Florida. Police recorded Gaetz driving 13 mph over that area’s speed limit.
Police noted that Gaetz had shown physical signs of intoxication, initially denied that he had drunk alcohol, but later admitted to drinking two beers. He failed an eye test twice, then declined field sobriety tests. After Gaetz was arrested, he refused to take a breathalyzer test.
Shortly after Gaetz’s case was referred to state attorney Steve Meadows, Gaetz’s driving license was reinstated. Despite a time period of a year’s suspension mandated by Florida law when a driver refuses a breathalyzer test, Gaetz’s suspension was less than a year long.
Gaetz’s refusal also did not lead to a criminal prosecution, where it could have been used against him. An officer for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles declared there was no evidence that Gaetz refused a breathalyzer test, despite the arresting police officer having documented it in an affidavit and Gaetz’s arrest report, and Gaetz’s own attorney also documenting it.
Gaetz’s attorney also claimed an unnamed witness who knew Gaetz “observed no indication of impairment”. Charges against Gaetz were dismissed by Meadows. Gaetz has cited the dropped charges as proof that he was innocent.
Between 1999 and 2014, Gaetz received 16 speeding tickets in Florida. The Scripps Florida Investigative Team reviewed Gaetz and 159 other Florida legislators, noting that 46 legislators have more than 10 driving violations.
Apparent threat directed at Michael Cohen
On February 26, 2019, the night before the scheduled public hearing of Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, before the House Oversight Committee, Gaetz directed a tweet to Cohen that implied without evidence that Cohen had had multiple extra-marital affairs and also suggested his wife might be unfaithful while he was imprisoned due to new information disclosed to her.
Gaetz’s tweet was seen by other members of Congress as an attempt to intimidate a witness. Gaetz initially defended his tweet to reporters, saying it was part of “witness testing, not witness tampering” and: “I don’t threaten anybody.” Asked to clarify, Gaetz said his “tweet speaks for itself”.
After sharp criticism from other members of Congress and an implicit rebuke by House Speaker Pelosi Gaetz deleted the tweet and posted a tweet in which he apologized. Despite not being a member of the House Oversight Committee which Cohen would appear in front of, Gaetz appeared at Cohen’s hearing, stating that he wanted to observe and ask questions.
During the hearing, Oversight Committee member Stacey Plaskett emphasized her background as a prosecutor and counsel on House ethics and recommended that Gaetz be referred to both the House Ethics Committee and criminal prosecutors over witness intimidation and tampering.
After the hearing, Gaetz reportedly texted an apology to Cohen, who reportedly thanked Gaetz for the apology. The Florida Bar opened an investigation into Gaetz for the tweet, as did the House Ethics Committee. In August 2019, the Bar announced it had found “no probable cause” that Gaetz had violated its rules.
Security breach of House of Representatives SCIF
In October 2019, Gaetz organized a “storming” of a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility on Capitol Hill by about two dozen Republican congressmen, including House minority whip Steve Scalise, in an effort to sit in on and hear the deposition of a Pentagon official during the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
The congressmen’s cell phones and other devices put the secure facility, and the security of the United States, at risk. One committee member said, “It was the closest thing I’ve seen around here to mass civil unrest as a member of Congress.”
The conservatives barged into the hearing room with prohibited electronics devices. House Homeland Security Committee chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi wrote to the House sergeant-at-arms about Gaetz and others, requesting that he take action regarding their “unprecedented breach of security”.
South Carolina Republican senator Lindsey Graham admonished his House colleagues for their tactic, calling them “nuts” for having made a “run on the SCIF.” Ohio Republican representative Jim Jordan said, “The members have just had it, and they want to be able to see and represent their constituents and find out what’s going on.”
A day later, Jordan appeared on Fox News to justify the intrusion, saying in reference to the chair of the committee: “Adam Schiff is doing this unfair, partisan process in secret and our members finally said, ‘Enough’.”
“We’re so frustrated. They reached a boiling point and these guys marched in and said we want to know what’s going on.” In the 116th Congress, the chair, Schiff, and 12 Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee were appointed by the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who is a committee member ex officio.
The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, also an ex officio member, appointed the ranking member, Devin Nunes, and eight other Republicans to the committee. Each side gets equal time to question witnesses appearing before the committee. The disruption delayed Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Laura Cooper’s testimony by many hours.
Matt Gaetz Office Locations
Washington, DC Office
1721 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-4136 | Fax: (202) 225-3414
District Offices
Fort Walton Beach Office
*Call for an appointment*
1170 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Bldg. 4, Rm 454
Phone: (850) 479-1183 | Fax: (850) 479-9394
Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547
Pensacola Office
226 S. Palafox Place, 6th Floor
Phone: (850) 479-1183 | Fax: (850) 479-9394
Pensacola, FL 32502
Matt Gaetz Contact
There are several ways to contact our office. You can enter your zip code below to send us an email, or contact one of our offices. If you specifically would like to request help with a federal agency or information on tours and tickets, please visit those pages.
Sending an Email
Please enter your ZIP code to verify residency and go to the next step and mark as required in the field of data.
ZIP Code: +4 Extension:
If you do not know the four digit +4 extension for your ZIP code, please check the U.S. Postal Service website for more information.
Please call our Washington, DC office for any assistance if you have difficulties completing this form.
Frequently Asked Questions About Matt Gaetz
Who is Matt Gaetz?
Matt Gaetz is an American lawyer and politician.
How old is Matt Gaetz?
Matt Gaetz is 37 years old as of 2019.
How tall is Matt Gaetz?
Matt Gaetz Height is not availble.
Is Matt Gaetz married?
According to our sources we have no information related to Matt Gaetz wife, though the information is under review.
How much is Matt Gaetz worth?
Matt Gaetz has an estimated net worth of $ 27 million dollars.
How much does Matt Gaetz make?
Matt Gaetz makes an admirable income though he has not revealed the information into the public, but we will get to update you if he do so.
Where does Matt Gaetz live?
Matt Gaetz lives in the United States.
Is Matt Gaetz dead or alive?
Matt Gaetz is still alive and in good health.
Where is Matt Gaetz now?
Matt Gaetz is in his political career.
Matt Gaetz Social Media
About InformationCradle Editorial Staff
This Article is produced by InformationCradle Editorial Staff which is a team of expert writers and editors led by Josphat Gachie and trusted by millions of readers worldwide.
We endeavor to keep our content True, Accurate, Correct, Original and Up to Date. For complain, correction or an update, please send us an email to informationcradle@gmail.com. We promise to take corrective measures to the best of our abilities.