Jim Matthews (politician)
| Jim Matthews | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners |
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In office January 3, 2000 – January 2, 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Mario Mele |
| Succeeded by | Leslie Richards |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican Party |
| Relations | Chris Matthews (brother) |
| Alma mater | College of the Holy Cross |
James R. Matthews is an American politician from the state of Pennsylvania, and is a member of the Republican Party. He is a former member of the Board of Commissioners of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and was the unsuccessful 2006 Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania as Lynn Swann's running mate.
Matthews graduated from La Salle College High School and attended College of the Holy Cross on a scholarship from the United States Navy. After serving in the Navy, Matthews entered the mortgage business and later earned an appointment as a mortgage lending officer with the Veterans Administration (VA) in Philadelphia. After leaving the VA, he returned to the private sector and later started his own mortgage business in 1990. Matthews is the brother of MSNBC talk-show host Chris Matthews.
Matthews was first elected to the Board of Commissioners in 1999 with District Attorney Michael Marino. In the 1999 primary election Matthews defeated Mario Mele, whom Republicans had accused of making a power sharing deal with the third commissioner, Democrat Joe Hoeffel, and supporting higher taxes in exchange for the commission chairmanship.
In 2003, Matthews ran with Tom Ellis for the county commission. Facing incumbent Ruth Damsker and Frank Custer, the pair won, but with a narrower margin, less than 10,000 votes, than Republicans were accustomed to.
Matthews courted some controversy in 2005 when he led an effort to ban cigarette smokers from working for the County. He and the commissioners reasoned that by outlawing smoking by County employees, they would be able to reduce health benefit costs. Later that year, the Commission retreated from that position, citing potential legal concerns. Montgomery County now offers anti-smoking aids to its employees as well as cash bonuses for those who stop smoking.
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