Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s budget director is running for the Arizona House of Representatives.
Matt Gress has served as director of the governor’s Office of Strategic Planning & Budgeting since 2017. In that post, he oversees preparation of the governor’s annual budget presentation and helps implement the budget once it is enacted.
Gress previously worked as a policy advisor at the Arizona Corporation Commission and as a fiscal analyst at the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, which provides nonpartisan analysis to state lawmakers. He’s from Oklahoma and taught English in Tulsa as part of Teach For America after graduating from the University of Oklahoma.
He’s running as a Republican in the new 4th legislative district, which runs from Central Phoenix north to Scottsdale and the Loop 101 freeway. It is one of a handful of highly competitive districts among the 30 in the state.
Gress calls himself a conservative Republican and previously served as an elected member of the Madison Elementary School District board. He lives in Phoenix with his partner, former Ducey Chief of staff Daniel Scarpinato.
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission last week approved new congressional and legislative maps for the state. The new 4th District covers parts of several old districts.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
