Matthew S. Petersen

Matthew S. Petersen
Federal Election Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office June 2008
Personal details
Born	1970 (age 44–45) Utah
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	University of Virginia School of Law, Brigham Young University, Utah Valley University
Profession	Lawyer

Matthew Spencer Petersen (born 1970)^[1] is a member of the United States Federal Election Commission (FEC).

He was nominated to the FEC by President George W. Bush on June 12, 2008, and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on June 24, 2008. He was unanimously elected to serve as the Chairman of the FEC starting in 2010 by his fellow members of the FEC in December 2009.

From 2005 until his appointment to the Commission, Mr. Petersen served as Republican chief counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. In this capacity, Mr. Petersen provided counsel on issues relating to federal campaign finance and election administration laws as well as the Standing Rules of the Senate.

Prior to this, Mr. Petersen served as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on House Administration. During his tenure, Mr. Petersen was extensively involved in the crafting of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) and the House-Senate negotiations that culminated in HAVA's passage. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Petersen specialized in election and campaign finance law at the law firm of Wiley Rein LLP in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Petersen received his J.D. in 1999 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in philosophy from Brigham Young University in 1996. He also received an Associate of Science with high honors from Utah Valley State College.^[2]

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