Jump to content

Matt Gaetz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by JJJansen (talk | contribs) at 16:57, 3 November 2017 (→Environment: add CAP, vice refs). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Matt Gaetz
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Preceded byJeff Miller
Member of the Florida House of Representatives
from the 4th district
In office
April 13, 2010 – November 8, 2016
Preceded byRay Sansom
Succeeded byMel Ponder
Personal details
Born (1982-05-07) May 7, 1982 (age 42)
Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
ResidenceFort Walton Beach, Florida
Alma materFlorida State University (B.S.)
College of William and Mary (J.D.)
ProfessionAttorney
WebsiteHouse website

Matthew Gaetz (/ˈɡeɪts/; born May 7, 1982) is an American attorney and politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Florida's 1st congressional district since 2017. A Republican, he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 4th District, which includes most of Okaloosa County, from 2010 to 2016.

Gaetz is the son of Florida politician Don Gaetz, who 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. Gaetz' 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 while his son watched television coverage of the event.[1]

Early life and education

Gaetz was born in Hollywood, Florida. He graduated from Florida State University in 2003 and from The College of William and Mary in 2007 with a juris doctor.[2]

In 2008, Gaetz was arrested for a DUI as he was driving back from the Swamp, a nightclub on Okaloosa Island, Florida, in a 2001 BMW SUV registered to his father. While he was arrested and refused to take a breathalyzer test, "he didn't have his license suspended for a year when he refused the breath test — as Florida law dictates. And he didn't have that refusal used against him in a criminal proceeding." At the time of his arrest and consequent criminal proceedings, his father was serving as a local politician and he avoided a DUI conviction, despite the fact that the police reported that "Gaetz fumbled for his license and registration, his eyes were watery and bloodshot, and he swayed and staggered when he got out of the car."[3]

Florida House of Representatives

In 2010, following the resignation of Republican State Representative Ray Sansom, who had briefly served as the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, due to corruption charges,[4] Gaetz ran in the special election to succeed Sansom in the 4th District, which included southern Santa Rosa County and Okaloosa County. In a crowded Republican primary, that included Craig Barker, Kabe Woods, Jerry G. Melvin, and Bill Garvie, Gaetz emerged victorious with 43% of the vote. In the special general election, Gaetz 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 lost its share of Santa Rosa County. He was reelected in unopposed contests in 2012 and 2014.

While serving in the state house, Gaetz joined with State Senator Joe Negron to propose legislation "designed to accelerate the execution of many of the 404 inmates on Florida's death row" by requiring the Governor to sign a death warrant for those inmates who have exhausted their appeals,[5] noting, "Only God can judge. But we can sure set up the meeting."[6] He also joined forces with State Senator Greg Evers to repeal legislation that requires that 10% of gasoline sold in Florida contain ethanol, saying, "This is the bill that removes and repeals Florida's burdensome ethanol mandate."[7]

Following the trial of George Zimmerman for the shooting of Trayvon Martin, Will Weatherford, the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, announced that he would order hearings on the "stand-your-ground" law that was raised as an issue during the trial.[8] Gaetz, the Chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, was tasked with reviewing the legislation, and 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.[9] 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."[10]

When his subcommittee was considering legislation that would "keep mug shots of people who are charged with crimes off the Internet until they are convicted," Gaetz brought up his 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."[11]

Florida Senate and U.S. House races

Gaetz announced that he would run for the Florida Senate in the 1st District, a seat held by his father, State Senator Don Gaetz, in 2016. His father was due to be term-limited out of the Senate in 2016.[12] On March 21, 2016, Gaetz withdrew from the race.

U.S. House of Representatives

On March 21, 2016, Gaetz withdrew to run for the seat representing Florida's 1st congressional district, since Jeff Miller announced he would not seek reelection.[13] On August 30, 2016, Gaetz won the Republican primary for the 1st congressional district with 35.7% of the vote – defeating Greg Evers (21.5%), Cris Dosev (20.6%), and five other candidates.[14]

On September 25, 2016, following the death of Miami Marlins’ pitcher José Fernández, Gaetz criticized the athletes protesting during the national anthem in a tweet: "To all who will kneel during the anthem today – just remember how José Fernández risked his life just for the chance to stand for it".[15][16]

Gaetz defeated Democratic candidate Steven Specht with 69 percent of the vote.[17] However, he had effectively clinched a seat in Congress with his primary win; the 1st is the most Republican district in Florida and one of the most Republican districts in the nation.

Committee assignments

Political positions

Donald Trump

On February 23, 2017, Gaetz, worried about protesters disrupting him from being able to speak at his town hall in Pace, Florida, prepared what his staffers call the "non-verbal town hall," reminiscent of a scene from the movie "Love Actually." Gaetz printed out part of a speech that gets some of his message across onto giant boards that he will hold up if he is unable to get a word in.[18] Later that evening, Gaetz arrived 30 minutes late to the town hall and faced at least 500 constituents crowded into the Oops Bowling Alley, where he was grilled about his relationship with Trump, his stance on repealing the Affordable Care Act, and his proposal to abolish the EPA. However, he managed to surprise the audience and gather a rare applause when he said, "Absolutely, Donald Trump should release his tax returns." But he stopped short of saying Congress should subpoena those returns. Gaetz closed his town hall by shouting “Make America Great Again” over roaring opposition from the crowd.[19][20][21]

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.”[22]

In the Florida House Gaetz led successful efforts to repeal gasoline ethanol content mandates.[23][24]

On February 3, 2017, Gaetz proposed a bill, H.R. 861 (115th Congress) that would "completely abolish" the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), writing, "Our small businesses cannot afford to cover the costs associated with compliance, too often leading to closed doors and unemployed Americans. It is time to take back our legislative power from the EPA and abolish it permanently."[23][25]

The Center for American Progress and Vice Media said Gaetz was a climate change denier citing his 2016 statements.[26][27]

Health care

On March 23, 2017, the day prior to the scheduled vote on the American Health Care Act of 2017 in the House of Representatives, Gaetz was asked by the Associated Press whether the GOP would come together to pass the bill. Gaetz replied responded, “I sure hope so, or we’ll have the opportunity to watch a unified Democratic caucus impeach Donald Trump in two years when we lose the majority.”[28] The bill, however, never made it to the House for a vote, as opposition from the Freedom Caucus caused it to be pulled from the floor. In light of the bill's collapse, Gaetz questioned the GOP's competency by telling reporters, “I don’t know if we could pass a Mother’s Day resolution right now."[29]

Crowdsourcing a resolution with the help of a conspiracy forum

In July and August 2017, it was reported that Gaetz had crowdsourced the contents of a resolution that he introduced to the House Judiciary Committee with the help of r/The_Donald, "a pro-Trump subreddit notorious for both its embrace of conspiracy theories and its gleeful offensiveness."[30][31]

References

  1. ^ Colavecchio-Van Sickler, Shannon (March 30, 2008). "GOP lawmaker Don Gaetz is rising fast as a state Senate leader". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  2. ^ "Matthew Gaetz". Martindale-Hubbell. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  3. ^ "Lawmaker's talk of mug shot raises questions about DUI arrest". Michael Van Sickler, Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  4. ^ Bender, Michael (February 21, 2010). "Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom resigns". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  5. ^ Klas, Mary Ellen (April 25, 2013). "Florida House approves speeding up executions". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  6. ^ Peters, Justin (November 7, 2013). "Meet the Uncompromising Ideologue Chairing Florida's "Stand Your Ground" Hearings". Slate. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  7. ^ Flanigan, Tom (April 12, 2013). "Ethanol Fuels To Evaporate Under House Bill". WFSU-TV. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  8. ^ Van Sickler, Michael (August 2, 2013). "Weatherford calls for hearings on 'stand your ground'". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  9. ^ Mitchell, Tia (August 22, 2013). "Matt Gaetz to rally base ahead of Stand Your Ground hearing". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  10. ^ Mullins, Dexter (March 25, 2014). "Proposed 'stand your ground' amendment would expunge records". Al Jazeera America. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  11. ^ Van Sickler, Michael (February 18, 2014). "Matt Gaetz wants to talk about his mug shot, but not his arrest". Miami Herald. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  12. ^ Henderson, Jeff (May 13, 2013). "Matt Gaetz Makes It Official, Will Shoot for Dad's Senate Seat in 2016". Sunshine State News. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  13. ^ Clark, Kristen (March 21, 2016). "Matt Gaetz launches bid for Congress, handing fathers state Senate seat to George Gainer". Miami Herald.
  14. ^ "Florida House Races Results". Politico. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  15. ^ "Matt Gaetz Tweet". Matt Gaetz Twitter. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  16. ^ "GOP Lawmaker Matt Gaetz Ripped For Tweet Politicizing Death Of MLB Star Jose Fernandez". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  17. ^ "Florida U.S. House 1st District Results: Matt Gaetz Wins". Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  18. ^ Moghe, Sonia (February 23, 2017). "One Republican congressman's plan to deal with town hall disrupters". CNN. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  19. ^ Strickland, T.S. (February 24, 2017). "At town hall, conservative lawmaker calls on Trump to release tax returns". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  20. ^ LoBianco, Tom (February 23, 2017). "Under fire, GOP congressman calls for Trump tax returns". CNN. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  21. ^ Norton, Allie (February 23, 2017). "Gaetz meets with protesters during Santa Rosa County town hall tour". WEAR-TV. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  22. ^ Breaux, Collin (April 16, 2016). "Local political figures cautious about sea level rise". The News Herald. Panama City, Florida. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  23. ^ a b Kaufman, Alexander C. (January 31, 2017). "Florida Congressman Drafts Bill To 'Completely Abolish' The EPA". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  24. ^ McLaughlin, Tom (June 1, 2013). "Rick Scott Signs Ethanol Bill Repealing Required Percentage Statute". HuffPost. Northwest Florida Daily News. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  25. ^ "H.R.861 - To terminate the Environmental Protection Agency". February 3, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  26. ^ Moser, Claire; Koronowski, Ryan (April 28, 2017). "The Climate Denier Caucus in Trump's Washington". ThinkProgress. Center for American Progress. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  27. ^ "Florida's Climate Change Deniers". Vice Media. April 25, 2017. Motherboard. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  28. ^ Gilbert, David (March 24, 2017). "Make or Break". Vice News. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  29. ^ Dovere, Edward-Isaac (March 25, 2017). "GOP wonders: Can it get anything done?". Politico. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  30. ^ "The House Judiciary Committee Is Hard at Work Investigating Reddit Conspiracies". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  31. ^ "The GOP Crowsourced an Anti-Clinton Amendment From Reddit". WIRED. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 1st congressional district
2017–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States Representatives by seniority
398th 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matt_Gaetz&oldid=808563980"