Matthew Roy Blunt (born November 20, 1970) is an American politician who served as the 54th governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. He previously served ten years in the United States Navy and as Missouri secretary of state.
Blunt won the 2004 Missouri gubernatorial election as the Republican nominee against Democratic nominee Claire McCaskill. The election coincided with elections in the Missouri General Assembly, where Republicans maintained their majority; this made Blunt the first Republican governor of Missouri to serve with a Republican legislature in 84 years, making his policy proposals easier to accomplish. At age 33, he also became the second-youngest person ever elected governor of Missouri after Kit Bond. Blunt did not seek a second term as governor, announcing his decision on January 22, 2008.Governor Matt Blunt's Address to Missouri, "YouTube", January 22, 2008. Blunt was the only Republican to be elected Governor from 1988 to 2016.
After working as a consultant, Blunt was hired as the president of the American Automotive Policy Council in 2011, representing the auto lobby in Washington, D.C."Blunt to head auto body lobby", Detroit News His father, Roy Blunt, has served in a variety of political offices, including as Missouri secretary of state and congressman, and in the U.S. Senate from 2011 to 2023.
Early life and education Born in 1970 in Greene County, Missouri, Blunt is the son of politician Roy Blunt and his first wife Roseann Ray Blunt. The senior Blunt was first elected to office in 1984 as secretary of state for Missouri. He was elected as U.S. representative in 1997 and as U.S. senator in 2010. After graduating from Jefferson City High School in Jefferson City, Missouri, Matt Blunt was accepted into the United States Naval Academy, where he received a bachelor's degree in history in 1993.
Blunt and his wife Melanie were married in May 1997. The couple has two sons. Blunt is a member of the State Historical Society of Missouri, the American Legion, and the Missouri Farm Bureau.
Naval career As an officer in the United States Navy, Blunt served as an engineering officer aboard the USS Jack Williams and as the navigator and administrative officer on the destroyer USS Peterson.
His active duty service included participation in Operation Uphold Democracy, involving the United Nations blockade of Haiti, missions to interdict drug traffic off the South American coast, and on duties involved in the interdiction of Cuban migrants in 1994. During his Naval career, Blunt received numerous commendations, including four Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medals. He entered the Navy Reserve.
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Blunt was called back into active naval service, after he had been elected to the office of secretary of state for Missouri. He 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. He was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserve.
Early political career
In 1998, Blunt was elected as a Republican to the Missouri House of Representatives to represent the 139th legislative district for a two-year term. In 2000, he was elected Missouri Secretary of State; although only a first-term state representative, Blunt defeated the Democratic Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, Steve Gaw, with 51.4% of the vote to Gaw's 45.1%. 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. His father had been elected to the same office at age 34. Blunt was the only Republican elected to statewide office in Missouri in 2000.
In August 2001, as secretary of state, Blunt traveled to Israel along with a delegation of Republicans led by his father, Roy, to meet with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.Brogan, Pamela (August 24, 2001). Rep. Blunt leading delegation to Israel. The Springfield News-Leader. He promoted a state election reform bill in 2002, which won support of the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic House. In 2004, Blunt required all electronic voting machines purchased by the state to produce a voter-verified paper ballot.Blunt Announces Security Requirement for Electronic Voting Machines in Missouri, sos.mo.gov, February 26, 2004.
Governor of Missouri 2004 election
Blunt faced only token opposition in the Republican primary, which he won with 534,393 votes (68.28%). In the general election, he faced Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill, who had defeated incumbent governor Bob Holden in the Democratic primary.
The first of two debates between Blunt and McCaskill was held on 18 October where McCaskill compared her experience to Blunt's inexperience; while Blunt said that McCaskill would not support the Marriage protection amendment to the State Constitution. In the two debates Blunt described himself as bringing change to Missouri and was assisted by President George W. Bush during the campaign. McCaskill kept her distance from Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry due to Bush's lead in Missouri.
In the end Blunt narrowly defeated McCaskill with surveys showing his conservative stance on social issues and the strong showing of President Bush in Missouri helped him to victory. 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. Blunt defeated McCaskill by 1,382,419 votes (50.83%) to 1,301,442 (47.85%) and thus became Missouri's second-youngest Governor.
Tenure
When 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. Blunt and his allies in the Missouri General Assembly moved quickly to enact legislation that they said would create a positive business climate in the state and result in job growth.
With legislative support, Blunt claimed in 2009 that he had enacted almost all of his policy proposals. Among the legislation passed were tort reform measures that overhauled the state's legal system, and changes in the state's workers compensation laws.
Blunt's first year in office was difficult, and he was criticized by both the right and the left. In February 2006, a poll conducted by SurveyUSA showed him with a 33% job approval rating, the fifth lowest of any governor in the nation."Approval Ratings of Governors", SurvveyUSA, 14 February 2006, accessed 15 September 2014 His approval among Republicans polled was 62%, but his rating among Democrats was only 12%."Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #8272", SurveyUSA, 14 February 2006, accessed 15 September 2014 This was one of the greatest partisan divides of any governor.
In September 2009, the state insurance agency issued a report showing medical malpractice claims in Missouri at a 30-year low in 2008, believed to result from Blunt's restriction of injury settlements under tort reform in 2005. "...Missouri's medical malpractice insurers made a profit for the fifth straight year in 2008. It also shows an increase in the number of medical providers getting insurance through nonprofit coalitions."
Fiscal policy Blunt believed he had to reduce spending to deal with what he described as a state financial crisis. He trimmed state spending in order to keep the budget balanced without raising taxes. Particularly controversial were provisions reducing coverage of programs created by state legislation to provide a social net, especially to families.
Two years later, with an election almost a year away, Governor Blunt implemented the MO HealthNet Initiative, Senate Bill SB577. This was intended to offer residents more choices and rewards for healthy behavior. Some citizens were deemed qualified again for Medicaid coverage.
In July 2007, Blunt signed an executive order launching the Missouri Accountability Portal (MAP), which provides Missourians with free, immediate, online information about how the state spends taxpayer money.
Blunt signed into law tax cuts. Blunt created the Quality Jobs program, an initiative has been expanded by his successor, Governor Jay Nixon.
In 2005, Blunt and the Republican-controlled Missouri General Assembly enacted an overhaul of the state workers' compensation system, making it more difficult for employees to obtain workers' compensation benefits. The overhaul was supported by business interests and opposed by labor unions.Associated Press, Court rejects workers' comp challenge (February 25, 2009).Erin Fuchs, Mo. High Court Upholds Tweaked Workers' Comp Law, Law360 (February 26, 2009). Also in 2005, Blunt signed into law "tort reform" legislation that limited the damages that juries could award in medical malpractice, placed a cap on punitive damages, lowered the maximum amount that juries could award in non-economic damages, and repealed Missouri's shared liability law.Mark Bliss, Gov. Matt Blunt touts tort reform legislation at ceremony in Cape. Southeast Missourian (March 29, 2005). In 2012, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down the cap on medical malpractice damages, ruling that the measure infringed "on the jury's constitutionally protected purpose of determining the amount of damages sustained by an injured party."Blythe Bernhard, Medical malpractice cap is struck down by Missouri Supreme Court, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (August 1, 2012).
Legislative initiatives 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. 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. In the area of elementary and secondary education, Blunt proposed that school districts be required to spend at least 65% of their budgets on student instruction. After the proposal was criticized, Blunt suggested that the 65% threshold should be a goal, rather than a mandate.
Blunt signed bills to expand Missouri's right-to-carry firearms. At the NRA's annual meeting, held in St. Louis in 2007, Blunt signed legislation prohibiting the seizure of firearms during declared states of emergency.
Blunt opposed abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother.Ontheissues.org – Matt Blunt He supported measures to prevent the ban on research regarding somatic cell nuclear transfer. There were efforts to pass such a ban in the Missouri General Assembly during the 2005 session. Disagreements among Republicans over the stem cell issue held up efforts to pass restrictions on abortion, such as a 24-hour waiting period, and a restriction on helping minors cross state lines to avoid Missouri's parental consent requirement. In September 2005, Blunt called a special session of the General Assembly specifically to address abortion. The General Assembly passed the above-noted restrictions, and Blunt signed them into law. 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, Blunt signed legislation to limit sales of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products, the key ingredients needed to make methamphetamine. In the 2006 legislative session, Blunt's stated priorities included enacting a version of "Jessica's Law," requiring a minimum 25-year sentence for child sex offenders, as one of his legislative priorities. In 2008, Blunt signed legislation requiring ignition interlocks for drunk drivers who commit two or more drunk driving offenses. He signed legislation to lower the legal intoxication limit for boaters from .10 to .08 percent.