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Matt Dowling (politician)
American politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Matt Dowling (born November 18, 1984) is an American politician who served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 51st district from 2017 to 2022, as a member of the Republican Party.
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Early life
Dowling graduated from Uniontown Area High School in 2003. He studied Theology and Philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville and obtained a B.A. in Business Administration and Management from Waynesburg University.[2]
Political career
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Dowling began his political career in 2016, when he defeated Tim Mahoney, a five-term Democratic incumbent, in the general election for the 51st District seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.[3]
The 51st Legislative District consisted of portions of Fayette and Somerset counties.[4] In the state House, Dowling was assigned to the Judiciary, Liquor Control, State Government, and Urban Affairs committees.[2]
2020 presidential election
In 2020, incumbent President Donald Trump lost Pennsylvania and was defeated in his bid for reelection. Trump and his allies refused to accept his defeat, falsely claimed that the election was fraudulent or marred by irregularities, and carried out a months-long effort to overturn the election result.[5] Dowling was one of many Republican members of the Pennsylvania Legislature who signed a January 4, 2021 letter to Pennsylvania's congressional delegation asking them to seek a halt to the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count (and thus the formalization of the victory of Joe Biden). The letter was sent prior to the January 6 United States Capitol attack, in which a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in a bid to halt the counting of the votes and keep Trump in power.[6]
Second Amendment Caucus Chairmanship
Matthew Dowling was named chairman of the House Second Amendment Caucus for the 2021-22 Legislative Session.[7] Upon Dowling's retirement Rep. Abby Major (R-Armstrong/Indiana/Butler) was named chair.[8]
Drunk driving and retirement
On July 1, 2022, three weeks after an automobile crash involving the consumption of alcohol, Dowling ended his bid for reelection, removing his name from the ballot.[9][4] On September 19, 2022, the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette printed a favorable editorial about Dowling's proposed bill to allow self-exclusion from alcohol purchases.[10]
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Personal life
In June 2022, Dowling was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, careless driving, driving an unregistered vehicle, and following too closely. The charges followed his arrest in South Union Township after he rear-ended another vehicle twice at a red light at a busy intersection. Dowling's blood alcohol content was .272, over three times the legal limit in Pennsylvania.[11][9] The crash took place the day after Dowling's driver's license had been reinstated; his license had previously been medically suspended after an October 2021 automobile crash, which was due to a diabetic emergency.[12][13] Dowling said he would enter treatment to "address any possible alcohol issues" and attributed the crash to "disappointing behavior that I have faced in the past with respect to alcohol."[11][12]
In December 2023, Dowling was charged with several misdemeanors. In the midst of divorcing his wife, Dowling was alleged to have filed false reports of child abuse against his wife. The charge was later dropped.[14] Dowling was listed in The Herald-Standard as having been charged with crimes that did not result in conviction. The newspaper printed a correction.[15]
Electoral history
2016
2018
2020
2022
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References
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