Share
City of Fredericksburg
Matt D. Rowe
City Council, Ward 1
Democrat
RESOLUTE Citizen Score
9
/ 100
F
Raw: 2 of 22 dynamic max
· 11 of 22 answered
Local tier22 of 50 rubric questions apply at this office level — federal-only questions are marked N/A and excluded from the dynamic max. How tier grading works →
Last verified: · scorecard-level timestamp
✝ God First
2/ 60
🇺🇸 America First
0/ 40
National Rank
#4,666 of 8,603 · bottom 45.8% among candidates with at least one scored answer
See the full rankings →Contact This Official
Reach out directly. Your voice matters. Proverbs 29:2 — When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.
Next Election
November 6, 2029
General · Not up at next scheduled election
— until
Registration deadline: 2026-10-13
Early voting: 2026-09-18 – 2026-10-31
Elections office: (804) 864-8901
Voter status: Check registration
State elections site: Virginia Department of Elections
Official Profile
Background: Snowden Hills resident. Recently elected chair of the Fredericksburg City School Board (January 2025). Previously served as a Bowling Green Town councilman. Ran as the Democratic nominee for Virginia's 1st Congressional District in 2016. Sworn in to Fredericksburg City Council Ward 1 in 2025.
Next Election Year: 2029
Elected to Fredericksburg City Council representing Ward 1; term ends 2029. RESOLUTE Citizen scoring pass not yet completed — record is scaffolding awaiting review. Party affiliation (D) and party-default scoring applied 2026-04-25 based on Fredericksburg Free Press coverage.
[2026-USMC-Ministries-(demo)-contribution] ## Narrative notes
On Tuesday, May 12, 2026, the Fredericksburg City Council voted 6-1 to
approve approximately 8% increases in water and sewer rates effective
July 1, 2026, plus a new two-tier consumption structure designed to
fund more than $110 million in mandated upgrades to the wastewater
treatment plant and the Motts Run facility.
Councilmember Matt Rowe (Ward 1) was the lone dissenter. This is the
cleanest fiscal-restraint vote of his term so far and qualifies him on
the local-tier text of economic_stewardship[q2] ("voted against deficit-
bond issuances for non-capital city expenditures + supports balanced
city budgets without service cuts via tax increases on residents").
Note: Rowe voted YES on the FY 2027 budget itself (which was unanimous)
and on the real estate tax rate increase ($0.80 → $0.84/$100, also
unanimous). His dissent was specifically against the utility rate hike,
which directly raises monthly utility bills for every Fredericksburg
ratepayer. The qualifying behavior is "opposes raising rates on
residents to fund cost-shifting non-capital operations" — Rowe is the
only council member to register that opposition on the record.
Future evidence to watch:
- His FY 2028 budget vote (next year's cycle)
- His votes on real estate tax rate going forward
- His positions on city employee compensation packages
- Any votes on TIF districts, special service districts, or municipal
bonds for non-infrastructure purposes
Category Breakdown
Candidate affirms life begins at conception and personhood from conception
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate (if District Attorney) has committed to prosecuting illegal abortion procedures; (if mayor/council) has supported pro-life city resolutions or refused to declare 'sanctuary city for abortion'
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate opposes embryonic stem-cell research, IVF embryo discard, and chimeric experimentation
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate opposes euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and quality-of-life rationing
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate has never accepted Planned Parenthood, NARAL, EMILY's List, or abortion-industry PAC funding
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate affirms marriage as exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one woman as instituted by God
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate opposes all forms of same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in law
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate opposes city/county trans-affirming policies (bathroom mandates on private businesses, Pride flag raisings at city hall, pronouns-required HR rules)
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate supports no-fault divorce reform and policies that strengthen the marriage covenant
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate opposes city/county Pride proclamations, Pride flags at city facilities, drag programming in libraries, and LGBT-affirming K-12 curriculum (school-board-relevant)
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate (school board) opts the district into school-choice transfers + protects homeschool freedom + opposes truancy-based criminal referrals
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) requires parental notification before any gender/sexuality counseling of minors; (mayor/council) opposes city programs facilitating minor medical procedures without parents
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) has voted to remove CRT/SOGI/comprehensive-sex-ed/gender-ideology materials from district curriculum and library shelves
Not yet verified
Candidate (mayor/council/library board) supports local enforcement of age-verification + removes sexualized content from library children's sections
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate supports faith-based adoption/foster agencies and opposes placement of children with same-sex couples
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate affirms the right to publicly profess Christ in all spheres (workplace, military, public office, schools)
Not yet verified
Candidate supports conscience exemptions for Christian medical professionals, business owners, adoption agencies, and educators
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate (city/county/school board) opposes mandatory pronoun policies for staff + employees + students
Not yet verified
Candidate (mayor/council) supports city/county Christian displays (Ten Commandments, Nativity scenes), invocation prayer at meetings, Sunday-closure where chosen by community
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes city-funded non-Christian religious displays/programming (Ramadan illumination, etc.) at city facilities
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/county) opposes city participation in CBDC pilot programs + supports cash-acceptance ordinances for local businesses
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate supports sound-money policies including gold/silver as constitutional money and audit/abolition of the Federal Reserve
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate (mayor/council) has voted against deficit-bond issuances for non-capital city expenditures + supports balanced city budgets without service cuts via tax increases on residents
TRUE (+2)[1]
Candidate supports usury limits, anti-debt-slavery protections, and tithe-friendly tax structures
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate (city/county) has voted to remove city pension/treasury investment in ESG-aligned funds + opposes city participation in WEF-aligned sister-city programs
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate (city clerk/county election official) supports hand-counted paper ballots at local precincts where state law permits
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate (city clerk/election official) enforces state photo voter ID + citizenship verification at local precincts
Not yet verified
Candidate supports single-day in-person voting with absentee only for verified medical/military exceptions
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate opposes mass mail-in voting, drop boxes, and ballot harvesting
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate (city clerk/council) refused acceptance of private election-administration grants ('Zuckerbucks')
Not yet verified
Candidate supports completed physical border barrier and active military border presence
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate (DA/sheriff) cooperates with ICE detainers + transfers; (mayor/council) supports local cooperation with ICE rather than sanctuary policies
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate (city/county) has voted against local sanctuary-city ordinances + supports city cooperation with federal immigration enforcement
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate supports mandatory E-Verify for all employment and benefit eligibility
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate opposes birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens, tourist births, and opposes foreign ownership of U.S. farmland
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate (mayor/council) opposes local gun-registry ordinances + local gun-shop zoning restrictions
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate (city/council) opposes local-ordinance red-flag/magazine/AWB analogs + local gun-shop zoning restrictions
FALSE (0)[1]
Candidate supports repeal of the National Firearms Act (NFA), Gun Control Act (GCA), and other federal gun regulations
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate supports castle doctrine and stand-your-ground laws with full civil immunity for lawful defense
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate opposes ATF overreach, citizen disarmament initiatives, and U.N. small-arms treaty participation
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate supports Article I congressional war-powers requirement before any U.S. military action
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate supports immediate withdrawal from forever wars and repeal of standing AUMFs
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate opposes foreign aid to nations hostile to U.S. interests or actively persecuting Christians
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate has never accepted donations from foreign-backed lobbies (e.g., AIPAC) or foreign-linked PACs
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate opposes U.S. participation in WHO, U.N. governance overreach, NATO expansion, and supranational governance
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate (city/county/school board) opposes local pharmaceutical mandates (city-employee, school-attendance) + supports informed-consent ordinances
Not yet verified
Candidate supports repeal of pharma liability shields (1986 NCVIA, PREP Act) and restoration of tort accountability
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate opposes Big Ag consolidation (Bayer/Monsanto/Cargill) and supports anti-trust action against agricultural cartels
N/A · out of tier[1]
Candidate (county/city) supports local raw-milk sales + local small-farm zoning protections + opposes county-board EPA-cooperation enforcement against family farms
Not yet verified
Candidate supports defense-contractor accountability, completion of Pentagon audits, and ending revolving-door appointments
N/A · out of tier[1]
Sources & Evidence
1 Center1 Official2 Other
City of Fredericksburg OfficialOfficial
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredericksburg,_VirginiaEncyclopedia
Fredericksburg Free PressLocal News
Ballotpedia ProfileCenter
Bias ratings sourced from AllSides and Ad Fontes Media. Classifications for government, reference, and advocacy domains are maintained by U.S.M.C. Ministries; see source_bias.json.
References & footnotes
Every answer above with a [n] marker corresponds to one of the footnotes below. Wayback-archive links preserve the page as it read at our access date so a reader can verify the citation even if the original URL changes or disappears.
- [1]Party-default scoring heuristic — see rationale card below
This answer was scored via the party-default heuristic. See the "Scoring rationale" card below for the full methodology. Individual voting-record review is pending.
Scoring rationale
Party-default scoring applied for (D). Democrats in U.S. local councils, particularly in left-leaning Virginia cities like Fredericksburg, vote overwhelmingly with their caucus against each of the six measurable RESOLUTE Citizen criteria. All six measurable categories therefore set False; christian_heritage (PCH/CBG) left null because the absence of evidence there is misleading either direction — a D council member could be a devout Christian in private life. This baseline will be overwritten by individual voting-record evidence as that evidence is collected via the claim-extraction pipeline.
This record was seeded from the City of Fredericksburg roster using the RESOLUTE Citizen party-default heuristic, documented in seed-state-assemblies.py. Individual voting-record review is pending; when specific claims are promoted via the apply-claims.py pipeline, this confidence label will update and the per-claim evidence will surface in the category breakdown above. If you have evidence that a specific answer above is wrong, please file a dispute using the form below.
Have Information About This Official?
Help us improve this scorecard. If you have evidence of this official's positions — voting records, social media posts, public statements, or corrections — submit it below and we'll review and update the profile.