Governor Matt Blunt
Matt Blunt, Missouri’s 54th governor was elected on November 2, 2004, carrying 101 of Missouri’s 114 counties.
Governor Blunt was born November 20, 1970 in Springfield, Missouri. He attended public schools in Strafford, and graduated from Jefferson City High School prior to entering the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Prior to his election as governor, Matt Blunt served as an active duty Naval Officer, as a member of the Missouri General Assembly (District 139) and as Missouri’s 37th Secretary of State.
Governor Blunt graduated from the Naval Academy in May 1993 with a bachelor of science degree in history. He went on to serve as an Engineering Officer aboard the USS JACK WILLIAMS (FFG-24) and as the Navigator and Administrative Officer on the USS PETERSON (DD-969).
Governor Blunt’s active duty service included participation in Operation Support 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, Governor Blunt received numerous commendations, including four Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medals.
Governor Blunt is the only statewide official in Missouri history called to active military duty in wartime, serving for six months in Operation Enduring Freedom, America’s response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He is currently serving as a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserves.
Governor Blunt campaigned on a platform pledging to make education the state’s top policy priority, to reform the state’s social welfare programs, to address Missouri’s health care crisis, to improve Missouri’s entrepreneurial climate and to protect working families by holding the line on job-killing taxes.
The Governor made good on several of those promises within his first 100 days in office.
Missouri has now enacted meaningful litigation reform to address a health care crisis that was driving doctors out of the state at the expense of patients in need of care and significant regulatory reforms that will lower costs for small business owners in our state, giving them the freedom to do what they do best, create jobs and stimulate the state’s economy.
Governor Blunt also submitted a balanced budget to the Missouri General Assembly that contains a significant increase in funding for public schools without an increase in existing taxes or the imposition of new taxes on Missouri’s working families.
Governor Blunt married Melanie Anderson Blunt in March 1997. The couple recently welcomed their first child, William Branch Blunt, who was born on March 9, 2005. The Blunts attend a Baptist church near their home. Governor Blunt is a member of the American Legion and the Missouri Farm Bureau.