Matt Willhite
Matt Willhite (Democratic Party) was a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing District 86. He assumed office on November 8, 2016. He left office on November 8, 2022.
Willhite (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 86. He won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Biography
Matt Willhite was born in Pontiac, Michigan. He received his associate degree from Palm Beach State College. Willhite served as a United States Navy Corpsman with the 4th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company of the United States Marine Corps. His career experience includes being a firefighter, fire captain, and paramedic. Willhite was also Vice Mayor and Councilman of the Village of Wellington from 2008-2016.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Willhite was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Willhite was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Florida committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Government Accountability |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
Matt Willhite did not file to run for re-election.
2020
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 86
Incumbent Matt Willhite defeated Susan Kufdakis Rivera in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 86 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Matt Willhite (D) | 56.8 | 49,820 | |
| Susan Kufdakis Rivera (R) | 43.2 | 37,911 | ||
| Total votes: 87,731 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Matt Willhite advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 86.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Susan Kufdakis Rivera advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 86.
Campaign finance
2018
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 86
Incumbent Matt Willhite defeated Laurel S. Bennett in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 86 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Matt Willhite (D) | 59.8 | 39,984 | |
| Laurel S. Bennett (R) | 40.2 | 26,853 | ||
| Total votes: 66,837 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 86
Incumbent Matt Willhite advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 86 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Matt Willhite | |
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 86
Laurel S. Bennett advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 86 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Laurel S. Bennett | |
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2016
Elections for the Florida House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 30, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 24, 2016.
Matt Willhite defeated Laurel S. Bennett in the Florida House of Representatives District 86 general election.[2][3]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 86 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Matt Willhite |
57.59% | 42,168 | |
| Republican | Laurel S. Bennett | 42.41% | 31,047 | |
| Total Votes | 73,215 | |||
| Source: Florida Division of Elections | ||||
Matt Willhite defeated Tinu Pena in the Florida House of Representatives District 86 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 86 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Matt Willhite |
56.29% | 5,451 | |
| Democratic | Tinu Pena | 43.71% | 4,233 | |
| Total Votes | 9,684 | |||
Laurel S. Bennett defeated Stuart Mears in the Florida House of Representatives District 86 Republican primary.[4][5]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 86 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Laurel S. Bennett |
52.71% | 2,951 | |
| Republican | Stuart Mears | 47.29% | 2,648 | |
| Total Votes | 5,599 | |||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matt Willhite did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Florida scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 11 to March 14.
- Legislators are scored on their stances on economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on business issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators were scored based on their votes on health care, the economy, public schools, affordable housing, clean energy and water, reproductive rights, the freedom to vote and more.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Florida State Legislature was in session from March 2 to April 30.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 14 to March 19.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Florida State Legislature was in session from March 5 through May 3.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 9 through March 11.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Florida State Legislature was in session from March 7 through May 8. There was also a special session from June 7 to June 9.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 12 through March 11.
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See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Florida House of Representatives, "Matt Willhite," accessed October 14, 2019
- ↑ Florida Department of State, "Candidate listing for 2016 general election," accessed September 12, 2016
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Florida Department of State, "Candidates and Races," accessed July 1, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Florida Division of Elections, "August 30, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed September 22, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Florida House of Representatives District 86 2016-2022 |
Succeeded by John Snyder (R) |
