Matthew R. Schaefer (born February 11, 1976) is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

for the 6th district. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Schaefer is assigned to the Defense & Veterans' Affairs and Urban Affairs committees. He ran without Democratic opposition in his successful bid for a fourth legislative term in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on November 6, 2018. Schaefer defeated Neal Katz, an independent, 37,056 (75.6 percent) to 11,929 (24.4 percent).

Early life and education

Schaefer attended

Cisco College Cisco College is a community college in Cisco, Texas located in Eastland County between Fort Worth and Abilene, where Highways 183, 206, and 6 intersect Interstate 20. The main campus is outside of Cisco, and the Abilene Educational Center i ...

Cisco, Texas Cisco is a city in Eastland County, Texas. The population was 3,899 at the time of the 2010 census. History Cisco, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and Interstate 20 in northwestern Eastland County, traces its history back to 1878 or 18 ...

, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Then he attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwe ...

, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Texas Tech University School of Law The Texas Tech University School of Law is an ABA-accredited law school located on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. The school offers three academic centers, ten dual-degree programs, a nationally recognized legal writing p ...

Career

In 1999, he worked in a district office of U.S. Senator

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...

. Upon Gramm's retirement, Schaefer joined the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

and attended law school at Texas Tech University. Schaefer subsequently served as counsel to the chairman of the

Sunset Advisory Commission The Sunset Advisory Commission is an agency of the Texas Legislature that evaluates state agencies and makes recommendations to the legislature on the need for, performance of, and improvements to agencies under review. The commission is headquar ...

, state representative

Carl Isett Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", List of Aqua Teen ...

, on bills regarding

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

and

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

. Schafer was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in November 2012. In the 2012 primary election, he had successfully challenged incumbent representative

Leo Berman Leo Berman (October 21, 1935 – May 23, 2015) was an American businessman, military officer, and politician from Tyler, Texas, who was a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 6 in Smith County from 1999 to 2 ...

. Schaeffer unseated Berman in the Republican

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

held on May 29, 2012. He received 11,138 votes, or 57.7 percent, to Berman's 8,172 votes (42.3 percent). Schaefer won renomination for a second term in the March 2014 Republican primary, He defeated Tyler businessman Skip M. Ogle, 9,888, or 61.1%, to 6,304, or 38.3%. Schaefer supports a ban on Democrats being given committee chairmanships as long as the Republicans hold the majority of seats in the Texas House.

Political positions

Gun control

In 2019, following two mass shootings in Texas, Schaefer tweeted his vehement opposition to increasing restrictions such as universal background checks, bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazine purchases, and mandatory gun buybacks. Instead, he advocates for prayer and discipline in the home, as well as the right to carry for law-abiding single mothers.

Personal life

Schaefer attends Green Acres Baptist Church, at which he met his wife in 2001.

References

External links

Campaign websiteOfficial Texas House of Representatives website

Matt Schaefer at the Texas Tribune
!-- Links formerly displayed via the CongLinks template:
Financial information (state office)
at the National Institute for Money in State Politics * --> {{DEFAULTSORT:Schaefer, Matt 1976 births Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Tyler, Texas Baptists from Texas Texas lawyers Cisco Wranglers football players Texas Tech University alumni Texas Tech University School of Law alumni United States Navy officers 21st-century American politicians Military personnel from Texas American gun rights activists