Joe Scarborough

This district had not supported a Democratic candidate for U.S. president since 1960; however, Democratic candidates had continued to hold most local offices well into the 1990s.

Scarborough's win coincided with a large Republican wave that allowed the Republicans to take the majority in the House for the first time in 40 years.

Charles Joseph Scarborough (born April 9, 1963) is an American television host, attorney, political commentator, and former politician who is the co-host of Morning Joe on MSNBC with his wife Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist.

He previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same network.

Scarborough was born in Atlanta in 1963, the son of Mary Joanna (née Clark) and George Francis Scarborough, a businessman.

He has two siblings.

In 1969, his family moved to Meridian, Mississippi, in 1973 to Elmira, New York, and in 1978 to Pensacola, Florida.

Scarborough attended Pensacola Catholic High School in Pensacola.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Alabama in 1985 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida College of Law in 1990.

During this time, he wrote music and produced CDs with his band, Dixon Mills, including the album Calling on Robert E. Lee, and he also coached football and taught high school.

During his first year of law school, Scarborough wrote a musical about televangelists called "The Gospel According to Esther" which premiered at the University of Alabama to positive reviews.

Later, the musical was showcased at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

Scarborough was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1991 and practiced law in Pensacola.

Scarborough's most high-profile case was briefly representing Michael F. Griffin, who murdered Dr. David Gunn in 1993.

Griffin's father was a friend of Scarborough's in-laws, and he agreed to represent Griffin until he found adequate representation.

Scarborough made several court appearances representing Griffin, before removing himself from the case, later saying: "There was no way in hell I could sit in at a civil trial, let alone a capital trial," referring to the prospect of prosecutors seeking the death penalty against Griffin.

Scarborough assisted Griffin in choosing other counsel from the many who offered their services, however, and helped shield the family from the media exposure, pro bono.

Scarborough's political profile was also raised when he assisted with a petition drive in late-1993, leading a tax revolt that defeated a proposed sixty-five percent increase in Pensacola's property taxes.

In 1994, Scarborough was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Florida's 1st congressional district, becoming the first Republican to represent the Florida Panhandle since Reconstruction.

The seat had become open when eight-term Democratic incumbent Earl Hutto retired.

In the general election, Scarborough defeated the Democratic candidate, Pensacola attorney Vince "Vinnie" Whibbs, Jr., with 61 percent of the vote.

Whibbs was the son of former Pensacola mayor Vince Whibbs.

A former member of the Republican Party, Scarborough was in the United States House of Representatives for Florida's 1st district from 1995 to 2001.

Scarborough was reelected with 72 percent of the vote in 1996.

Rep. John Kasich (R-Ohio), then chairman of the House Budget Committee, adopted Scarborough's language eliminating the federal Department of Education in the 1996 House Budget Resolution.

The budget passed the House by a vote of 238–193.

Scarborough and the group played a pivotal role in pressing Gingrich to keep the GOP's promise to balance the federal budget.

Scarborough supported a number of anti-abortion positions while in Congress.

In 1998 and 2000, he faced only write-in candidates as opposition.

In 1998 he was named chairman of the Civil Service Committee.

Scarborough was one of a group of about 40 freshmen Republican legislators who dubbed themselves the "New Federalists" after The Federalist Papers.

Scarborough was elected political director of the incoming legislators.

The New Federalists called for sweeping cuts in the U.S. government, including plans to "privatize, localize, consolidate, [or] eliminate" the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy and Housing and Urban Development.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich tapped Scarborough to head a Republican task force on education, and Scarborough declared, "Our goal is to get as much money, power, and authority out of Washington and get as much money, power, and authority into the classroom as possible."

In June 2000, during his congressional career, he received a 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union.

He signed the Contract with America.

Scarborough was a member of the Armed Services, Judiciary, Government Reform, and Education committees.

He was appointed to the President's Council on the 21st Century Workforce in 2002.

and was a visiting fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

He was named in the 2011 Time 100 as one of the most influential people in the world.