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Matt Cartwright

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Matt Cartwright
Matt Cartwright.jpg
U.S. House, Pennsylvania, District 17
Incumbent
In office
January 3, 2013
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position 0
PartyDemocratic
PredecessorTim Holden (D)
Compensation
Base salary$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
First electedNovember 6, 2012
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Campaign $$1,361,753
Term limitsN/A
Education
Bachelor'sHamilton College
J.D.University of Pennsylvania
Personal
BirthdayMay 1, 1961
Place of birthErie, Pennsylvania
ProfessionLawyer
Net worth$2,970,014
ReligionCatholic
Websites
Office website
Campaign website
Matt Cartwright campaign logo

Contents

Matt Cartwright is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Pennsylvania. Cartwright was first elected in 2012.

Biography

Cartwright graduated from Hamilton College in 1983, then got his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. While an undergraduate, he studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and met his future wife, Marion Munley, while there. After law school, he practiced law in Philadelphia for several years before relocating to Scranton to work with his father-in-law's firm.[1]

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Cartwright serves on the following committees:[2]

Issues

Political Positions

Health Care

Cartwright said he would have voted for the health care reform bill, however he believes it didn't go far enough to hold insurance companies accountable.[3]

Economy

Cartwright believes the government should play a vital role in the economic recovery. He also believes that when the housing market collapsed, judges should have been given the ability to adjust homeowners' mortgages. Cartwright also supports doing away with corporate tax loopholes and giving more tax breaks to middle-class families.[4]

Environment

Cartwright believes that hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," should not be exempt from the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, or Safe Drinking Water Act. He also believes private companies should not be given the rights to drill or mine on public lands.

Elections

2012

See also: Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district elections, 2012


"It's Time"

Cartwright ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Pennsylvania's 17th District. He defeated incumbent Tim Holden in the April 24 Democratic primary and faced Republican Laureen Cummings in the November 6 general election.[5]

The Washington Post listed the House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania in 2012 as one of the states that could determine whether Democrats would retake the House or Republicans would hold their majority in 2013.[6] Ohio tied with Pennsylvania for 9th on the list.[6] [7]

U.S. House, Pennsylvania, District 17 General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark.jpgMatt Cartwright 60.3% 161,393
     Republican Laureen Cummings 39.7% 106,208
Total Votes 267,601
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Fundraising

On March 21, 2012, the Cartwright campaign accidentally leaked to a media outlet that they had raised $600,000 this quarter - including donations and some amount of self-funding. Holden, on the other hand, reportedly raised $230,000 this quarter, In 2011, Holden raised $480,000 for the entire year.[8]

Endorsements

  • Former Rep. Joe Sestak[9]
  • Scranton Times-Tribune
  • Wilkes-Barre Times Leader columnist Kevin Blaum[10]

Ads

In March 2012, Cartwright released his first television ad. The 60-second ad is titled "Priorities."


Cartwright TV ad (March 15, 2012).


"The Truth"

On April 5, Cartwright released an ad in response to a Holden campaign's "Kids for Cash" ad.[11] On April 19, Cartwright released his final campaign ad. Titled "It's Time," the positive ad says Cartwright will oppose the Bush tax cuts and fight to make childcare and elderly care tax deductable.[12]

Opponent targeted

Cartwright's primary opponent, incumbent Tim Holden, was targeted by three political action committees: the Campaign for Primary Accountability, Blue America PAC,[13] and the League of Conservation Voters.[14]

The Campaign for Primary Accountability spent nearly $200,000 looking to unseat Holden,[15] including a $70,000 ad buy with a negative ad tying Holden to Wall Street.[16] According to the Huffington Post, however, "Cartwright's campaign disavowed the Campaign for Primary Accountability's spending."[17] A Holden spokesperson said the Campaign for Primary Accountability was part of a "perfect storm" of factors that lead to his loss.[18]


"Who Does Congressman Tim Holden Look out for?"

Polls

2012 Election

A Thirty-Ninth Street Strategies internal Cartwright poll, conducted April 2-5, 2012, showed Cartwright with a single-digit lead over incumbent Rep. Holden.[19]

Pennsylvania's Congressional District 17, 2012
Response [1]
(April 2-5, 2012)		Average
Tim Holden (D) 36% 36%
Matt Cartwright (D) 42% 42%
Number polled 600 600
Margin of error +/-4.0 4%
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Cartwright is available dating back to 2012. Based on available campaign finance records, Cartwright raised a total of $1,361,753 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 18, 2013.[20]

Matt Cartwright's Campaign Contribution History
Year Office Result Contributions
2012 US House (Pennsylvania, District 17) Won $1,361,753
Grand Total Raised $1,361,753

2012

Breakdown of the source of Cartwright's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Cartwright won election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, his campaign committee raised a total of $1,361,753 and spent $1,304,274.[21]

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Cartwright missed 3 of 108 roll call votes from January 2013 to April 2013. This amounts to 2.8%, which is worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving as of April 2013. [22]

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Cartwright's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $1,115,033 and $4,824,996. That averages to $2,970,014, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Representatives in 2011 of $5,107,874.[23]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Matt + Cartwright + Pennsylvania + Congress + House

All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.

Matt Cartwright News Feed


Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found


Personal

Matt and his wife Marion Munley Cartwright have two sons, Jack and Matthew. They live in Moosic.

External links

References

  1. ↑ National Journal "New Faces: Pennsylvania, 17th House District" Accessed November 20, 2012
  2. ↑ CQ.com, House Committee Rosters for the 113th Congress
  3. ↑ Campaign website "Health care" Accessed April 7, 2012
  4. ↑ Official campaign website "Economy" Accessed April 7, 2012
  5. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State "2012 General Primary Unofficial Returns," April 24, 2012
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Washington Post "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012" Accessed April 25, 2012
  7. ↑ Pennsylvania Dept of State "2012 Official Primary Results"
  8. ↑ National Journal "Upset Alert: Holden Facing Deep-Pocketed Challenger" Accessed March 24, 2012
  9. ↑ PoliticsPA "Sestak backs Cartwright" Accessed April 20, 2012
  10. ↑ PoliticsPA "NEPA Newspapers Back Cartwright" Accessed April 22, 2012
  11. ↑ PoliticsPA "New Cartwright Ad Rebuts ‘Kids for Cash’ Attack" Accessed April 7, 2012
  12. ↑ PoliticsPA "After ceasefire, Cartwright releases final ad" Accessed April 20, 2012
  13. ↑ The Borys Blog Accessed April 7, 2012
  14. ↑ Lehigh Morning Call "League of Conservation Voters targets Congressman Tim Holden" Accessed April 21, 2012
  15. ↑ CBS News "Anti-incumbent group shakes up Pennsylvania primaries," April 24, 2012
  16. ↑ PoliticsPA "Super PAC Launches Anti-Holden Ad" Accessed April 7, 2012
  17. ↑ Huffington Post "Matt Cartwright, Environmentalist Candidate, Wins Pennsylvania Primary With Help Of Oil Magnates," April 25, 2012
  18. ↑ Wall Street Journal blog "Anti-Incumbent Super PAC Claims a Win in Pennsylvania," April 25, 2012
  19. ↑ PoliticsPA "Cartwright Poll: Cartwright Leads Holden 42-36" Accessed April 9, 2012
  20. ↑ Open Secrets "Career Fundraising for Matt Cartwright," Accessed April 18, 2013
  21. ↑ Open Secrets "Matt Cartwright's 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed March 4, 2013
  22. ↑ GovTrack, "Matthew Cartwright," Accessed April 17, 2013
  23. ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Matt Cartwright, (D-Pa), 2011"
Political offices
Preceded by
Tim Holden (D) 		U.S. House of Representatives - Pennsylavnia, District 17
2013-Present 		Succeeded by
'
v • d • e
Pennsylvania's current delegation to the United States Congress
SenatorsCongressLogo.png
Representatives
Allyson Schwartz (D) • Bill Shuster (R) • Chaka Fattah (D) • Charles W. Dent (R) • Glenn Thompson (R) • Jim Gerlach (R) • Joseph R. Pitts (R) • Keith Rothfus (R) • Lou Barletta (R) • Matt Cartwright (D) • Michael F. Doyle (D) • Michael G. Fitzpatrick (R) • Mike Kelly (R) • Patrick Meehan (R) • Robert A. Brady (D) • Scott Perry (R) • Tim Murphy (R) • Tom Marino (R)
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