Matthew G. Heinz (born June 6, 1977) is an American doctor and politician. A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, he was appointed by President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
in June 2013 as Director of Provider Outreach in the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs, a part of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Heinz was tasked with helping Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...
with the roll-out of the
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
, with one aspect of his job to work with
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
organizations across the country as they inform their members of their options in each state. For one or two weekends per month, Heinz continued his work as a hospitalist in Tucson, Arizona. Heinz left the position in March 2015.
Prior to his appointment, Heinz was a member of the
Arizona House of Representatives
The Arizona State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Senate. The House convenes in the legislative chambers at the Arizona State C ...
from the 29th District. First elected in 2008, he took office on January 12, 2009, won re-election to his seat in 2010 and toward the end of his second term, he ran as a candidate for US Congress.
In 2020 he won the
Pima County
Pima County ( ) is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,043,433, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the populati ...
Supervisor seat from 2nd district.
Personal life, education, and medical career
Heinz earned a BA in Chemistry from
Albion College
Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014.
They participate in NCAA Division III and the Michigan Interco ...
and has an
MD from
Wayne State University School of Medicine
The Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSUSOM) is the medical school of Wayne State University, a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It enrolls more than 1,500 students in undergraduate medical education, master's degree, P ...
. In 2000, he was granted a fellowship in vascular surgery at
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
, where he conducted research. He completed his
residency
Residency may refer to:
* Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place
** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship
* Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...
in internal medicine at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
and is a practicing physician at
Tucson Medical Center
Tucson Medical Center (TMC), licensed at 641 beds, is a locally governed nonprofit regional hospital in Tucson, Arizona. The medical center treats about 30,000 inpatients and 120,000 outpatients annually as well as around 6,000 births.
TMC holds ...
.
He is of
Lebanese and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
descent. Heinz is
openly gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
and his campaign for the Arizona state legislature won the support of the
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
The LGBTQ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBT, LGBTQ public officials in the United States. Vict ...
.
Arizona House of Representatives
Elections
The 29th District, entirely located in
Pima County
Pima County ( ) is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,043,433, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the populati ...
, includes parts of Tucson and
Littletown. It is reliably Democratic.
;2006
He ran for Arizona's 28th House District. He lost the Democratic primary, getting 23% of the vote. Steve Farley ranked first with 33%. Incumbent State Representative David T. Bradley ranked second with 33%.
;2008
He then ran for Arizona's 29th House District.
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
s prevented incumbent Democrat State Representative Linda Lopez from running for re-election in 2008. Heinz was one of seven Democrats to file for the two house seats. In the primary election, he ranked first with 25% of the vote. Incumbent State Representative Tom Prezelski came in third with 16% and lost his seat, behind Heinz and second-placed finisher Daniel Patterson. In the general election, Patterson ranked first 33% and Heinz ranked second with 32%.
;2010
He won re-election 35% of the vote, ranking second to Patterson again, who got 37% of the vote.
Committee assignments
*House Appropriations Committee
*House Public Employees, Retirement and Entitlement Reform Committee
U.S. House campaigns
2012
Following the resignation of incumbent Democrat U.S. Congresswoman
Gabby Giffords
Gabrielle Dee Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American retired politician and gun control advocate who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing from January 2007 until January 2012, when she resigned ...
, Heinz announced his candidacy for the special election for the seat. He later withdrew from the race before the election.
2016
Heinz announced in 2015 that he would run for the 2016 Democratic nomination in Arizona's 2nd congressional district.
In August 2016, Heinz won the primary with 53.2 percent of the vote, defeating
Victoria Steele
Victoria Steele is a former Democratic member of the Arizona State Senate representing District 9 from 2019 to 2023. She is a twice elected former Democratic member of the Arizona House of Representatives, serving District 9 in Tucson from 2013 ...
. In the general election, he faced Republican incumbent
Martha McSally
Martha Elizabeth McSally (born March 22, 1966) is an American politician and former military pilot who served as a United States senator for Arizona from 2019 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the U.S. representative for ...
. McSally was re-elected with 57% of the vote.
2018
Heinz announced in 2017 that he would again run for the 2018 Democratic nomination in Arizona's 2nd congressional district.
In August 2018, Heinz lost the 7-way primary with 29.6 percent of the vote to
Ann Kirkpatrick
Ann Leila Kirkpatrick (born March 24, 1950) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the United States representative from since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2013 to ...
who received 41.9 percent.
References
External links
Legislative homepageHeinz for Arizona
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinz, Matt
Politicians from Tucson, Arizona
Democratic Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives
LGBT state legislators in Arizona
Gay politicians
Albion College alumni
Wayne State University alumni
Harvard Medical School people
University of Arizona alumni
1977 births
Living people
LGBT Christians
LGBT people from Michigan