45 Facts About Matt Blunt

Matt Blunt previously served ten years in the United States Navy and as Missouri secretary of state.

Matt Blunt did not seek a second term as governor, announcing his decision on January 22,2008.

The senior Matt Blunt was first elected to office in 1984 as secretary of state for Missouri.

Matt Blunt was elected as US representative in 1997 and as US senator in 2010.

The couple has two sons, William Branch Matt Blunt, born on March 9,2005, and Brooks Anderson Matt Blunt, born on January 1,2010.

Matt Blunt is a member of the State Historical Society of Missouri, the American Legion, and the Missouri Farm Bureau.

Matt Blunt completed a six-month tour of duty in Great Britain during Operation Enduring Freedom, during which time he continued to work full-time for the state as well.

Matt Blunt was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserve.

In 1998, Matt Blunt was elected as a Republican to the Missouri House of Representatives to represent the 139th legislative district for a two-year term.

Matt Blunt was 29 on election day, November 7,2000, and 30 at the time he assumed office, making him the youngest person ever to win statewide office in Missouri.

Matt Blunt's father had been elected to the same office at age 34.

Matt Blunt was the only Republican elected to statewide office in Missouri in 2000.

Matt Blunt promoted a state election reform bill in 2002, which won support of the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic House.

In 2004, Matt Blunt required all electronic voting machines purchased by the state to produce a voter-verified paper ballot.

Matt Blunt faced only token opposition in the Republican primary, which he won with 534,393 votes.

Matt Blunt obtained strong leads in the rural parts of the state which was sufficient to overcome McCaskill's leads in St Louis and Jackson County.

Matt Blunt defeated McCaskill by 1,382,419 votes to 1,301,442 and thus became Missouri's second-youngest Governor.

When Matt Blunt took office on January 10,2005, it was the first time in Missouri since 1921 that a Republican held the governor's office with Republican majorities in both houses of the state legislature.

Matt Blunt believed he had to reduce spending to deal with what he described as a state financial crisis.

Matt Blunt trimmed state spending in order to keep the budget balanced without raising taxes.

Two years later, with an election almost a year away, Governor Matt Blunt implemented the MO HealthNet Initiative, Senate Bill SB577.

In July 2007, Matt Blunt signed an executive order launching the Missouri Accountability Portal, which provides Missourians with free, immediate, online information about how the state spends taxpayer money.

Matt Blunt created the Quality Jobs program, an initiative has been expanded by his successor, Governor Jay Nixon.

Matt Blunt provided annual increases in state funding for K-12 education, signed legislation authorizing $335 million for college construction, expanded college scholarships, and enacted a new school funding method.

Matt Blunt proposed selling Missouri's student loan agency, known as MOHELA, and using the proceeds to pay for endowments and new construction for the state's public universities.

At the NRA's annual meeting, held in St Louis in 2007, Matt Blunt signed legislation prohibiting the seizure of firearms during declared states of emergency.

Matt Blunt supported measures to prevent the ban on research regarding somatic cell nuclear transfer.

In September 2005, Matt Blunt called a special session of the General Assembly specifically to address abortion.

The General Assembly passed the above-noted restrictions, and Matt Blunt signed them into law.

Matt Blunt supported measures that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, in contrast to Illinois, which enacted legislation requiring pharmacies as public businesses to fill such prescriptions.

In 2005, Matt Blunt signed legislation to limit sales of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products, the key ingredients needed to make methamphetamine.

In 2008, Matt Blunt signed legislation requiring ignition interlocks for drunk drivers who commit two or more drunk driving offenses.

Matt Blunt signed legislation to lower the legal intoxication limit for boaters from.

Matt Blunt secured funding which led to the creation of the new Springfield Crime Lab.

Matt Blunt has supported the development of biomass, biofuels, wind power and solar energy as alternative energy sources.

Matt Blunt issued Executive Orders and programs to encourage university cooperation, tax relief, research funds and seed capital for "life science" start-up firms, and an innovative program to reward insurance companies and other large institutional investors for investing in funds that hold biotech stocks.

Matt Blunt has promoted Missouri as a potential hotspot for bioscience.

Matt Blunt was criticized for limiting science funding for research related to stem cells; this was considered to discourage the science community at large from working in the state.

In 2005 Governor Matt Blunt created the Missouri Life Sciences Trust Fund, to accept transfers of monies from the Tobacco Settlement fund and apply them to biotech efforts.

Matt Blunt created the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative, designed to spread biotechnology across the State.

Matt Blunt was investigating whether Martin had used his office to try to influence anti-abortion groups in relation to opposition to state Attorney General Jay Nixon, a Democrat.

Matt Blunt has continued to advocate for greater transparency in government spending, state and national lawsuit reform and improving public education.

Matt Blunt has been critical of cuts to education funding, arguing that they will erode Missouri's future.

In February 2011, Matt Blunt was selected as president of the American Automotive Policy Council.

Matt Blunt's leadership at one of the United States' top automobile and component-producing states is a major reason he was chosen to lead the policy initiatives of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.