Andrew Thomas Matthews (born 1978) is an American politician serving as the 23rd Controller of Nevada since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member distr ...

representing Nevada's 37th district.

Education and career

A graduate of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

, Matthews briefly worked as a sports writer before entering politics in 2005 as a campaign worker in New Jersey. Matthews has worked for the conservative Nevada Policy Research Institute since 2007, starting as the communications director and ultimately becoming president. He was elected to the Nevada Assembly in 2020 after defeating incumbent Democrat

Shea Backus Shea Backus (born 1975) is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the Nevada Assembly from the 37th district. Early life Backus was born in 1975 in Las Vegas, Nevada, a third generation Nevadan. After graduating from Ed W. C ...

, thus flipping the seat from Democratic to Republican. He previously ran for a seat in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

in Nevada, but came in fourth in the 2016 Republican primary, finishing behind the winner Danny Tarkanian, as well as second place finisher

Michael Roberson Michael Craig Roberson is an American attorney and politician who served in the Nevada Senate from 2010 until 2018, representing the 20th district. A Republican, Roberson was Senate Majority Leader from 2014 until 2016, and Senate Minority Lea ...

, and third place finisher

Michele Fiore Michele Ann Fiore (born July 29, 1970) is an American Republican politician serving as a justice of the peace for Nye County since being appointed to the position by the Nye County Commission in December 2022. She moved to Nye County in Novemb ...

. He was then hired as executive director of a conservative PAC tied to former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt. In 2018, Matthews worked for

Adam Laxalt Adam Paul Laxalt (; born August 31, 1978) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 33rd Nevada Attorney General from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Nevada in 2018 ...

's campaign for Governor of Nevada, but Laxalt was defeated by Democrat

Steve Sisolak Stephen F. Sisolak (born December 26, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 30th governor of Nevada since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Clark County Commission from 2009 to 2019 and on ...

, and Matthews then successfully ran for the

in the 2020 election. In 2022, Matthews chose not to run for reelection to the Assembly and instead entered the race for Nevada State Controller. He was unopposed in the Republican primary, and faced Democrat Ellen Spiegel in the November general election. Matthews won the election with 50.06% of the vote.

References

1978 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Republican Party members of the Nevada Assembly State Controllers of Nevada {{Nevada-politician-stub