In politics, one needs a lot of mentorship to succeed. Matt Gaetz, the current United States representative for the first congressional district in Florida, was not demotivated from pursuing his dream. His father and grandfather were famous politicians, and he continues on that path.

Matt Gaetz is a trained lawyer and a member of the Republican Party. He is widely known for being very vocal and having strong opinions about different issues that affect contemporary America.

Profile summary

• Full name: Matthew Louis Gaetz II
• Popular known as: Matt Gaetz, Baby Gaetz
• Date of birth: 7 May, 1982
• Age: 39 years
• Zodiac sign: Taurus
• Place of birth: Hollywood, Florida, United States of America
• Current residence: Florida
• Nationality: American
• Ethnicity: White
• Religion: Christianity (Baptist)
• Sexuality: Straight
• Height in feet: 5'7"
• Height in centimetres: 170
• Weight in pounds: 160
• Weight in kilograms: 73
• Eye colour: Grey
• Hair colour: Brown
• Father: Don Gaetz
• Mother: Victoria "Vickey" Gaetz (née Quertermous)
• Sister: Erin Gaetz
• University: Florida State University, William & Mary Law School
• Political party: Republican Party
• Profession: Lawyer and politician
• Marital status: Engaged
• Fiancée: Ginger Luckey

Matt Gaetz's early life and family background

Where is Representative Matt Gaetz from? The politician was born on 7 May 1982 in Hollywood, Florida, US. He grew up in Fort Walton Beach with his family. Matt Gaetz's nationality is American.

The lawyer was born to Victoria and her husband, Don Gaetz. He has a younger sister named Erin. The sister was the director of digital content in the 2016 presidential campaign for Jeb Bush.

Matt Gaetz's family home used in The Truman Show movie became known as The Truman House. It is located in Seaside, Florida. Their parents still live on the property.

Matt Gaetz's father, Don, was a politician and his son took after him. Don Gaetz was a successful businessman before pursuing his interest in America's politics.

He was one of the members of the Florida State Senate from 2006 until 2016. Between 2012 and 2014, he also served as the president of the Senate.

The Gaetz family has a long history in politics. Matt's paternal grandfather, Jerry Gaetz, was also a politician. He aspired to be North Dakota's lieutenant governor at the North Dakota Republican Party state convention in 1964. Unfortunately, he suffered a heart attack and died.

How old is Matt Gaetz?

Matt Gaetz's age is 39 years as of 2021. His zodiac sign is Taurus.

Education background

The lawyer and politician went to Bluewater Elementary School, after which he joined Ruckel Middle School. After graduating from middle school, he went to Niceville High School.

He was a student at Florida State University, from where he graduated in 2003 with a B.S. in interdisciplinary sciences. Afterwards, he joined the William & Mary Law School, graduating in 2007.

Career

Matt Gaetz's career began with his attorney job at Keefe, Anchors & Gordon law firm in Northwest Florida.

The Republican Party became Matt Gaetz's political party of choice after his political career started in 2010. Since then, he has established his reputation as a politician with strong opinions and beliefs.

Florida House of Representatives

In March 2010, Ray Sansom resigned from his position as the Republican State representative of Florida. He was accused and charged with corruption in February that year.

Matt decided to make the most out of Ray's resignation. Thus, he contested in the special election to become his successor in Florida's fourth district.

The primaries included other candidates, including Kabe Woods, Bill Garvie, Jerry G. Melvin, and Craig Barker. Matt had a 43% win and was named the Republican nominee. In the general election, he competed against Jan Fernald, the Democratic nominee.

During the campaign period, his supporters contributed about $480,000, which was about 50 times more than what Jan Fernald received in contributions.

Matt Gaetz's district map included Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties.

In 2012, the Florida House of Representatives districts were reconfigured, so Santa Rosa County was no longer part of the politician's district. Nevertheless, in both 2012 and 2014, he was re-elected without any opposition.

During his tenure in the Florida House of Representatives, Matt teamed up with state senator Joe Negron. They proposed a bill that would accelerate the execution of a large percentage of the prisoners on Florida's death row.

They needed the governor to sign a death warrant for all inmates who had exhausted their appeals.

He also teamed up with Greg Evers, a state senator. They proposed a law that abolished the federal ethanol content mandate that 10% of gasoline sold in Florida contain ethanol. Governor Rick Scott of Florida signed it into law in May 2013.

Matt was the chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee during the trial of George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman was tried for shooting and killing Trayvon Martin. However, Some people opposed Matt's inclusion in that committee.

Florida Senate and U.S. House 2016 races

In 2013, Matt declared his interest in running for the 1st District state senate seat in 2016. His father held the position at the time. He was to vacate it in 2016 upon the end of his term.

However, on the 21st of March 2016, Baby Gaetz withdrew from the race. He decided to contest for the United States House seat, representing Florida's 1st congressional district instead.

Matt made this decision 11 days after Jeff Miller announced that he would not be seeking re-election.

The primaries were held on the 30th of August 2016, and he won the Republican slot with 35.7% of the vote. He defeated Cris Dosev, Greg Evers, and five other candidates.

With this win, he was almost assured of the seat because most of Florida's 1st District people are Republicans.

He defeated Democratic candidate Steven Specht in the general election on the 8th of November 2016. He got almost 70% of the total votes.

In 2016, Matt disclosed his financial position. At the time, Matt Gaetz's net worth was only $388,000. He donated more than half of it to his political campaign. He then resigned from two political action committees in the Florida House.

Matt Gaetz transferred $380,000 to a federal super political action committee after the closure of the political action committees. This political committee was called the North Florida Neighbors. The committee aimed to support him in his congressional bid.

United States House of Representatives

In 2016, the legislator criticised the decision of some athletes to protest during the national anthem. The incident occurred after the death of José Fernández, Miami Marlins' pitcher.

In 2019, the politician expressed interest in occupying the Alabama Senate seat in 2020 but changed his mind shortly after.

After the 2020 State of the Union Address, the politician lodged an ethics complaint against Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House. He argued that she violated decorum when she tore her copy of the speech.

In February 2020, the politician declared that he would not be accepting campaign contributions from federal political action committees any more.

Gaetz's stand on issues affecting America

The lawyer and politician is known for having strong opinions on multiple topics that affect present-day American society.

Cannabis

Matt proposed legislation to change the classification of cannabis to a Schedule III drug from Schedule I. He also sought to loosen the federal limitations on the farming of cannabis for research through another legislation.

He argued that the federal government has lied to its people for a generation when addressing the benefits of MMJ.

In his position at the Florida House, he sponsored a bill to expand Florida state's Right to Try Act to include the medical advantages of the plant. The bill was signed into law. In 2017, he was a keynote speaker at the annual American MMJ Physicians Association conference.

In November 2019, he was one of the two House Judiciary Committee Republicans to vote for the MMJ Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. The Act would remove MMJ from the Controlled Substances Act.

He also introduced the STATES Act to block federal meddling in states that had already made MMJ legal for recreational and medical use.

Relationship with Donald Trump

On the 23rd of February, 2017, the politician faced and spoke to about 500 protesters at his town hall in Pace, Florida. He arrived 30 minutes late, and the people questioned his relationship with Donald Trump as well as his position on cancelling Obamacare.

They also questioned his proposal to obliterate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On his relationship with President Trump, he said that the president should make public his tax returns but did not say that Congress should subpoena them.

On several occasions, he was accused of being fully aligned and an enthusiastic defender of Donald Trump.

Economy

In 2017, he supported the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and acknowledged that the bill would benefit both Donald Trump and Americans. He believes real estate would become more accessible and easier.

Environment

In 2016, he agreed that global warming has occurred but did not agree that the change was caused by human activity. He was, in turn, accused of being a denier of climate change. In 2017, he proposed the complete abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

He argued that most of the small businesses could not afford the costs involved with EPA compliance.

In November 2017, he became a member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. He stated that he supports technological innovation and financial incentives that help to deal with climate change.

He also supports increased funding for research on the same by universities, NASA, and NOAA, but he does not support heightened environmental regulation.

LGBTQ+ rights

In 2015, Matt collaborated with opposition representative David Richardson in sponsoring a bill. The bill sought an amendment to the law that prohibits LGBT couples from adopting.

Gun policy

The politician is a member of the National Rifle Association, and he has an A+ rating from the association. When he was still serving at the Florida House of Representatives, he unsuccessfully pushed for permission to be granted to Floridians who have concealed weapons permits to carry their weapons openly. He is a strong supporter of concealed carry reciprocity.

Health care

The politician argued that the expansion of Obamacare powered the opioid crisis. However, the relevant experts argued otherwise and claimed that there was no evidence to support his view.

Immigration

Matt does not support sanctuary cities that choose not to set aside resources to prosecute undocumented persons. In his opinion, undocumented people are licking America dry.

In 2018, he supported Donald Trump's words that African countries and Haiti were "sh*thole" nations. Also, he accused George Soros of paying for a caravan of migrants into the United States of America from Central America in 2018.

Robert Mueller's case

For a while now, the politician has been a vocal critic of the Mueller investigation. During the House Judiciary Committee Hearing on the 24th of July 2019, he grilled Special Counsel Robert Mueller about his investigation and report.

He asked about the origins of Mueller's investigation report and several conspicuous omissions from the report.

Although Mueller was given the mandate to investigate the efforts by the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, he refused to respond to come of the questions. Instead, Matt asked about the bias in his investigative team.

Foreign policy

In late 2017, Matt supported the decision by President Trump to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel. However, he said the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv was dismissive, wrong, and disrespectful and that it should be moved to Jerusalem.

In April 2019, he signed the letter to President Trump after the House passed a decision to support the withdrawal of support for Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen. In the letter, which other lawmakers also signed, they requested a meeting with the president to urge him to sign the Senate Joint Resolution 7.

This would invoke the War Powers Act of 1973 to end the unauthorised US military participation in Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen.

What are some of Matt Gaetz's controversies?

Matt has had several controversies in his lifetime, and they include the following:

Death of college roommate

Who was Matt Gaetz's college roommate? Many people are curious to know who Matt Gaetz's Florida State University roommate was. Although his name is yet to be disclosed to the public, the man was found dead under mysterious and suspicious circumstances. The politician was suspected of murder.

After this roommate was found dead, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement initially investigated the matter as a murder. However, there are reports that the department was pressured to investigate it as a self-murder.

Within no time, the suspicious death was then buried both by the university and the investigative officers.

Driving under the influence and speeding tickets

In 2008, the politician was arrested for driving under the influence at 13mph above Okaloosa Island, Florida's allowed speed limit. He failed the eye test two times and refused to take the breathalyser test.

He was acquitted, and his driving license was reinstated within a few days. The charges against him were dismissed, allegedly due to the interference of his powerful father. Matt received over 16 tickets for overspeeding in his home state between 1999 and 2014.

Association with Chuck Johnson

The politician invited Chuck Johnson, an alt-right Holocaust denier, to President Trump's State of the Union address.

He stated that he did not have a previous relationship with Johnson but invited him after showing up at his office. However, Johnson said that other members of Congress invited him, which he accepted because the politician supports things that he cares about.

Michael Cohen's case

Before the public hearing of Michael Cohen, Matt tweeted about Cohen and implied that he had multiple affairs outside his marriage. He also hinted that his wife might have been unfaithful while he was incarcerated. However, he had no evidence to support his words.

His statement was taken as an effort to intimidate one of the witnesses. However, he was heavily criticised for the tweet in the process, and Matt had to delete it and apologise.

Although he was not a member of the House Oversight Committee, he attended Cohen's hearing because he wanted to observe and ask questions.

The Florida Bar opened an investigation into his tweet and later concluded that the politician had not violated its rules when he sent the Cohen Tweet.

Matt Gaetz's latest news

The politician was placed in self-quarantine for a fortnight after coming into contact with a person infected with Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Earlier on, he mockingly wore a gas mask to the House during a debate on financial resources to mitigate the Corona outbreak. In addition, he mocked the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act and failed to apologise even after a member from his constituency died.

A few days later, his office reported that he had physical contact with a CPAC attendee who has tested positive for the virus. He was then asked to go into self-quarantine for 14 days. He reported that he tested negative for the virus and that he showed no symptoms of COVID-19.

Matt Gaetz was under fire for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old minor. His partner in crime, Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty in front of a judge and reportedly admitted that Matt was part of the whole scandal.

Another damning evidence is that multiple people have admitted to Matt's boasts about having access to girls.

As the #FreeBritney campaign has been on the rise for the past few months, Gaetz decided to voice his support for Britney Spears in her fight against her conservatorship. He also called Jamie Spears 'a d*ck'.

Who is Matt Gaetz's spouse?

Matt Gaetz' wife-to-be is Ginger Luckey. The two met in March 2020 at a fundraising meeting in Florida.

Matt proposed to Ginger on the 30th of December, 2021, at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club. Ginger comes from a famous and wealthy family too. Her brother, Palmer Luckey, is a tech investor who sold technology to Facebook for $2 billion.

Matt Gaetz's height and weight

Matt Gaetz's weight is around 160 pounds (73 kg), and his height is 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm).

What is Matt Gaetz's net worth?

As of 2021, Matt Gaetz has an estimated net worth of $700,000. His annual salary is $174,000.

Social media presence

The politician is very vocal on his Twitter account, where he has more than one million followers. He often uses the platform to express his views and opinions on various American and global issues. He is also on Instagram, where he has over 569,000 followers.

In addition, Matt has a Facebook page with over 153,000 followers.

Lawyer and politician Matt Gaetz took after his father in American politics. He is a controversial figure with even more controversial views, and he has been involved in multiple scandals.

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