Matt Gress (born July8, 1988) is an American politician and Republican member of the

Arizona House of Representatives The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Arizona Senate, Senate. The House convenes in the le ...

elected to represent District 4 in 2022.

Early career and education

Gress grew up in rural

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and graduated from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, where he was selected for the

Harry S. Truman Scholarship The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is a graduate fellowship in the United States for public service leadership. It is a federally funded scholarship granted to U.S. undergraduate students for demonstrated leadership potential, academic excellence ...

. Gress was accepted into the

Teach for America Teach For America (TFA) is an American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to "enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation's most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational excell ...

program, and he gained certification to teach in English, History, Government and Economics. He also received his master's degree from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. In Arizona, Gress worked as an analyst for the non-partisan Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and later as Director of the Governor's Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, under former Governor

Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey ( ; ; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who served as the 23rd List of governors of Arizona, governor of Arizona from 2015 to 2023 and as State Treas ...

. From 2017 until 2021, Gress served as a governing board member in the Madison Elementary School District, in central Phoenix. Gress is openly gay.

Elections

In the 2022 General Election, Gress was elected to the legislature, becoming the top vote getter in District 4 with 61,527 votes. Gress served with Democrat Laura Terech, who came in second with 59,292 votes. Former Republican state Representative

Maria Syms Maria Mazzeo Syms (born January 10, 1968) is an attorney, American politician and a former Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives elected to represent District 28 from 2017 to 2019. Since 2023, Syms has served as the Associate ...

came in third in the general election, falling short with 56,383 votes.

Tenure

One of Gress' key campaign pledges was a plan to raise teacher pay by $10,000 per Arizona teacher. Gress introduced his Pay Teachers First Plan in January 2023. Gress also sponsored by a bill to provide financial assistance to residents of mobile homes if they are told to vacate their homes due to redevelopment efforts. The bill was signed into law by Arizona Governor

Katie Hobbs Kathleen Marie Hobbs (born December 28, 1969) is an American politician serving since 2023 as the 24th governor of Arizona. A member of the Democratic Party, she was secretary of state of Arizona from 2019 to 2023 and a member of the Arizona Le ...

. In the wake of the '' Planned Parenthood Arizona v. Mayes'' ruling that upheld an 1864 near-total abortion ban over a more recent law passed in 2022 that outlined a 15-week ban, Gress became one of the biggest advocates calling for its repeal. He was the sole Republican in the Arizona House to vote to repeal over three instances, being joined by fellow Republicans

Justin Wilmeth Justin Wilmeth (born June 26, 1979) is an American politician and former child actor currently representing the 2nd district in the Arizona House of Representatives. He was elected to the 15th district in 2020 after incumbent Republican Nancy B ...

and Tim Dunn, on the latter to repeal the ban alongside all Democrats. He was later removed from his House committee role.

References

External links

Biography
at

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Living people People from Scottsdale, Arizona Republican Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature American gay politicians LGBTQ state legislators in Arizona LGBTQ conservatism in the United States 1988 births {{Arizona-politician-stub