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Rep. Matthew “Matt” Cartwright

Representative for Pennsylvania’s 8th District

pronounced MATH-yoo // KAHRT-rīt


Cartwright is the representative for Pennsylvania’s 8th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2019. Cartwright is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. He is 61 years old.

He was previously the representative for Pennsylvania’s 17th congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2018.

Photo of Rep. Matthew “Matt” Cartwright [D-PA8]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2022 Report Card for Cartwright.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Cartwright is shown as a purple triangle in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Cartwright has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Mar 27, 2023. See full analysis methodology.

Committee Membership

Matthew “Matt” Cartwright sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Cartwright was the primary sponsor of 9 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 9 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Cartwright sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (18%) Education (15%) Environmental Protection (14%) Armed Forces and National Security (11%) Energy (11%) Law (10%) Labor and Employment (10%) Government Operations and Politics (9%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Cartwright recently introduced the following legislation:

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Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Cartwright voted Yea

Cartwright voted Yea

Passed 241/183 on Jan 19, 2018.

H.R. 4712 establishes requirements for health care practitioners to exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion …

Cartwright voted Yea

Passed 228/195 on Jun 29, 2017.

H.R. 3003 strengthens current law to combat dangerous sanctuary policies that shield unlawful and criminal immigrants from federal immigration enforcement. Specifically, the bill clarifies U.S. …

Cartwright voted Yea

Passed 229/177 on May 19, 2017.

H.R. 1039 amends the federal criminal code to authorize a probation officer to arrest a person, without warrant, if there is probable cause to believe …

Cartwright voted Nay

Passed 378/48 on Apr 26, 2017.

This bill would change the appointment process for the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, known as the Register of Copyrights. Currently the Register of …

Cartwright voted No

Passed 360/61 on Dec 8, 2016.

The WIIN (Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation) Act was a 277-page bill dealing with federal water policies, particularly for drought-stricken areas. It’s so complex …

Cartwright voted Yea

Passed 248/177 on Sep 18, 2015.

H.R. 3504 would require that a child born alive during an attempted abortion be given the same medical treatment as any other child born at …

Cartwright voted No

Cartwright voted Yea

Passed 338/88 on May 13, 2015.

The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of …

Cartwright voted Nay

Passed 219/206 on Dec 11, 2014.

This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 [pdf], which was approved by the House on December …

Cartwright voted Aye

Missed Votes

From Jan 2013 to Mar 2023, Cartwright missed 122 of 5,857 roll call votes, which is 2.1%. This is on par with the median of 1.6% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: