birth_place imagesize title party profession birth_date term_start image article_title name
utah 125 federal election commission republican lawyer 1970 june 2008 fec_matthew_s_petersen . jpg matthew s. petersen
 matthew s. petersen
matthew s. petersen

matthew spencer petersen -lrb- born 1970 -rrb- is a member of the united states federal election commission -lrb- fec -rrb- .
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 -lrb- hava -rrb- 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 .
