Matt Blunt

Governor Blunt was born November 20, 1970 in Strafford, Missouri. He received his bachelor’s degree from the United States Naval Academy. He went on to serve as an Engineering Officer aboard the USS JACK WILLIAMS (FFG-24) and as the Navigator and Administrative Officer on the USS PETERSON (DD-969). Blunt previously served as a member of the Missouri General Assembly and as Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, Blunt led the successful efforts to reform state election laws and to make significant technological enhancements that allow Missouri businesses to file documents with the office any time they choose. Blunt was elected governor in 2004. As governor, he has increased state funding for Missouri’s public schools by nearly a third of a billion dollars and secured a significant $20 million increase in state support for Missouri's two and four year higher education institutions. He signed into law significant regulatory reforms that will lower costs for small business owners in the state. Blunt enacted the Missouri Quality Jobs Act, a new approach to economic development, to provide people in Missouri with a new tool to attract good, family supporting jobs to the state. In 2006, he launched the Downtown Revitalization Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) Initiative to help communities more efficiently and effectively engage in downtown revitalization efforts. Blunt has taken aggressive steps to keep dangerous sexual predators away from Missouri’s children. Missouri now has a version of Jessica’s Law to ensure sex offenders who commit sexual crimes on young children stay in jail at least 30 years and are monitored their entire lives. He also signed a law that made Missouri one of the first states to utilize global positioning satellite (GPS) technology to track certain sex offenders. In addition, he expanded the sexual offender registry and added new tools to make it a more powerful resource for parents. In 2006 Blunt signed legislation requiring that gasoline sold in Missouri be blended with 10 percent ethanol by 2008. The Missouri Renewable Fuel Standard Act is a major step the state is taking to position Missouri as a leader in ethanol production and utilization.