Background

Wellington resident Matt Willhite is a Captain in county Fire / Rescue. With an associate degree in EMS/TEchnical training for firefighters, he served 8 years as a Navy corpsman and was hired by the county in 1996. In 2008 he was elected to the Wellington Village Council and served as Vice Mayor. As a councilman, he served on the League of Cities, the MPO, the Water Resources Task Force and other county and local boards.

In his first term in the Legislature after his election in 2016, he helped pass a bill to provide PTSD treatment to law enforcement officers and first responders.

His listed policy interests are general (the environment, seniors, public safety, etc.) As a Legislator, he voted for the MSD Public Safety Act, yearlong daylight savings time, prohibiting red light cameras, and opposed prohibiting local sanctuary policies that would require local governments to adhere to federal law.

This race was a rematch of 2016 where Willhite won over Laurel Bennett by 16 points, 58-42% In 2018 it was 60-40%.