Matthew Ryan Koch (born May 11, 1978) is an American politician serving as a Republican member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

from Kentucky's 72nd House district. His district includes

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon, a beer produced by Brasseries de Bourbon * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * Bourbon coffee, a type of coffee ma ...

, Fleming, and Nicholas County.

Background

Koch was born in

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and the county seat. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. It is part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2020, it ha ...

, and graduated from Bourbon County High School. He went on to attend the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, before earning a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in agriculture from the

University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment The University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is a public agricultural college at the University of Kentucky. The college was renamed the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment on July 1, 2013. The na ...

. Koch graduated with no student debt, and paid his way through college by working as a

farrier A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adju ...

. In 2000, Koch served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, and was deployed to

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. In 2004, he retired with the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. In 2004, Koch began his own

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

operation out of his parents' farm while still working as a farrier. In 2005, he co-founded Shawhan Place, a horse breeding and boarding farm located in Paris which he has co-owned ever since. He also serves as a board member of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association.

Political career

Elections

* 2018 Incumbent representative

Sannie Overly Sannie Louise Overly (born July 2, 1966) is an American lawyer, engineer, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Overly served in the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing Kentucky's 72nd House district. She served as House ...

chose not to seek reelection to Kentucky's 72nd House district. Koch was unopposed in the 2018 Republican primary and won the

2018 Kentucky House of Representatives election The 2018 Kentucky House of Representatives elections were held on November 6, 2018, as part of the biennial United States elections. All 100 of Kentucky's state representatives were up for reelection. In Kentucky, members of the House of Repres ...

with 8,578 (51.3%) against Democratic candidate Emily Ferguson and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

candidate Ann Cormican. * 2020 Koch was unopposed in the 2020 Republican primary and won the

2020 Kentucky House of Representatives election Elections to the Kentucky House of Representatives were held on November 3, 2020. Predictions Closest races Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%: # # gain # # gain # # # gain # # gain # # gain # # Results ...

with 13,268 votes (65.4%) against Democratic candidate Todd Neace. * 2022 Koch was unopposed in both the 2022 Republican primary and the

2022 Kentucky House of Representatives election The 2022 Kentucky House of Representatives election was held on November 8, 2022. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on May 17. All 100 seats of the house were up for election. Republicans increased their majority in the ...

, winning the latter with 10,984 votes. * 2024 Koch was unopposed in both the 2024 Republican primary and the

2024 Kentucky House of Representatives election The 2024 Kentucky House of Representatives election was held on November 5, 2024. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on May 21. Following the 2022 Kentucky House of Representatives election, 2022 election, Republicans an ...

, winning the latter with 15,453 votes.

References

1978 births Living people Republican Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly People from Paris, Kentucky People from Bourbon County, Kentucky {{Kentucky-politician-stub