Matthew S. Petersen has served on the Federal Election Commission (FEC) since his appointment by President George W. Bush in June 2008. In December 2009, he was selected by the commission members to be their chair for the year 2010. The role of the FEC is to monitor campaign finance contributions, enforce regulations on spending and campaign funding, and distribute public funds for Presidential elections.

 

Petersen received an associate degree from Utah Valley State College, before attending Brigham Young University. He graduated in 1996 magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, and three years later received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review.

 

From 1999 to 2002, Petersen specialized in election and campaign finance law at the law firm of Wiley Rein LLP in Washington, DC.

He then went to work on Capitol Hill, serving as counsel for the House Committee on House Administration. During his tenure, Petersen was 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 2005 until his appointment to the commission, Petersen served as Republican chief counsel to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. In this capacity, he provided counsel on issues relating to federal campaign finance and election administration laws, as well as the standing rules of the Senate. It was this Senate committee that approved Petersen’s nomination to the Federal Election Commission.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Chairman Matthew S. Petersen (Federal Election Commission)