Matt The Welder

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Matt The Welder

Republican Party

Candidate, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Next election

August 18, 2026

Education

High school

Sickles High School

Other

Hillsborough Community College, 2018

Personal

Birthplace

Clearwater, FL

Religion

Baptist

Profession

Independent contractor

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Personal website

Personal YouTube

Matt The Welder (Republican Party) (formerly Matthew Taylor) is running for election for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on August 18, 2026.

Welder (formerly Matthew Taylor) also ran for election for Governor of Florida. He will not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on August 18, 2026.

Welder completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Matt The Welder was born in Clearwater, Florida. He earned a high school diploma from Sickles High School and graduated from Hillsborough Community College in 2018. His career experience includes working as a long haul trucker, media platform manager, and independent contractor.

Elections

2026

See also: Florida gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on August 18, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.

General election for Governor of Florida

The following candidates are running in the general election for Governor of Florida on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Brandon L. McIntyre (Constitution Party)
		Scott Jewett (L)
	Submit photo	Surindar Bedi (No Party Affiliation)
	Submit photo	James Brown (No Party Affiliation)
	Submit photo	Jeffrey Peter Datto (No Party Affiliation)
		Moliere Dimanche (No Party Affiliation)
	Submit photo	Insley Evans (No Party Affiliation)
		Kyle Gibson (No Party Affiliation)
		Neil Gillespie (No Party Affiliation)
	Submit photo	Mourice Hylton (No Party Affiliation)
	Submit photo	Holly Klask (No Party Affiliation)
		Andrea Lynn Klink (No Party Affiliation)
		Jason Pizzo (No Party Affiliation)
	Submit photo	Frank J. Russo (No Party Affiliation)
	Submit photo	David Wexler (No Party Affiliation)
	Submit photo	Reginald Strachan (Independent)
		Rodney Glover (No Party Affiliation) (Write-in)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Florida

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for Governor of Florida on August 18, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Faith E. Antonio
		Evelyn Castillo-Bach
		Richard Dembinsky
		Jerry Demings
		Thomas E. Fernandez
		Dayna Foster
	Submit photo	Indony Jean Baptiste
		David Jolly
		Charles Lewis I
	Submit photo	Donald Peterson
	Submit photo	Christopher Powell
	Submit photo	Jessica Vernekar

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Florida

The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for Governor of Florida on August 18, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	William Todd Andros
		Jay Collins
		Shea Cruel
	Submit photo	Jenny Patricia Curtman
		Byron Donalds
		James Fishback
	Submit photo	Jim Holcomb
	Submit photo	Daniel Imperato
		John Joseph Mercadante
		William Reicherter
		Paul Renner
	Submit photo	Rachel Rodriguez
	Submit photo	Caneste Succe
		Bobby Williams Jr.

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Matt The Welder (R)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Hillsborough County, Florida (2024)

General election

General election for Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners District 4

Incumbent Christine Miller defeated Nicole Payne and Matt The Welder in the general election for Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners District 4 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Christine Miller (R)	58.2	115,986
		Nicole Payne (D)	36.4	72,455
		Matt The Welder (No Party Affiliation)	5.4	10,830

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 199,271
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners District 4

Nicole Payne defeated Jonathon Chavez in the Democratic primary for Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners District 4 on August 20, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nicole Payne	63.4	10,748
		Jonathon Chavez	36.6	6,216

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 16,964
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners District 4

Incumbent Christine Miller defeated Cody Powell in the Republican primary for Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners District 4 on August 20, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Christine Miller	68.7	19,328
		Cody Powell	31.3	8,787

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 28,115
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michael Owen (R)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Welder in this election.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Matt The Welder did not complete Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

2024

Matt The Welder did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

See also

2026 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

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External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Personal

Website

YouTube

Footnotes

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