Morgan Griffith

Early life, education, and career

Griffith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in his infancy his family relocated to Salem, Virginia. He graduated from Andrew Lewis High School in 1976 and from Emory and Henry College in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts. Griffith completed his education with a J.D. from the Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1983.

After law school, Griffith settled in Salem, where he worked as an attorney in private practice specializing in traffic violations and DUI. On June 23, 2008, Albo & Oblon LLP, a law firm run by fellow Republican delegate Dave Albo, announced that Griffith had joined the firm as head of its new Roanoke/Salem office.

Early political career

Griffith's first entry into electoral politics came in 1986, when he was chosen as chair of the Salem Republican Party. He chaired the party from 1986 to 1988 and from 1991 to 1994.

Virginia House of Delegates

In 1993, incumbent Delegate G. Steven Agee chose to run in the Republican primary for Attorney General. Griffith ran for the open seat representing the 8th district and won. He was elected to several terms, facing opposition only in 2001, 2003, and 2009. He served as vice chair of the Rules Committee and on the Courts of Justice Committee, and chaired its Criminal Law Subcommittee. He also served on the Commerce and Labor Committee, and the Committee on Militia, Police, and Public Safety. He was elected House Majority Leader in 2000, the first Republican to hold that position in Virginia's history.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Rather than run for a tenth term in the House of Delegates, Griffith opted to challenge Congressman Rick Boucher, a 13-term incumbent Democrat who had served since 1983. His home in Salem was just outside the 9th's borders at the time, but the district included almost all of his House of Delegates district.

Griffith chose to run for Congress after Boucher voted for the cap and trade bill. Boucher capitalized on the fact that Griffith did not live in the district, and in return Griffith branded Boucher as a rubber stamp for Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. Griffith won the election by less than 5% of the vote. Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group funded by oil magnates Charles Koch and David Koch, spent heavily in advertising against Boucher, accusing him of betraying the district's coal industry.

Griffith defeated Democratic nominee Anthony Flaccavento, 61.3% to 38.6%.

Griffith defeated independent candidate William Carr, 72.1% to 24.2%.

Griffith defeated Democratic nominee Derek Kitts and Independent Janice Boyd with 68.59% of the vote.

Griffith defeated Democratic opponent Anthony Flaccavento 65.2% to 34.7%, with 223 write-ins among 246,989 votes cast. (A "Modern Whig Party" had endorsed a candidate whose name ultimately did not appear on the ballot and is listed at Ballotpedia as a "withdrawn or disqualified" independent.)

Griffith ran unopposed. He was reelected with 94.39% of the vote.

2024

Griffith defeated Democratic nominee Karen Baker. He was reelected with 72.5% of the vote.

Committee assignments

Committee on Energy and Commerce

Subcommittee on Energy

Subcommittee on Health

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Caucus memberships

Congressional Constitution Caucus

Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans

Congressional Western Caucus

Veterinary Medicine Caucus

Freedom Caucus

Liberty Caucus

Friends of Wales Caucus

Political positions

Immigration

Griffith has voted to allow Virginia to enforce federal immigration laws to criminalize knowingly employing illegal immigrants or undocumented workers, and also voted to criminalize possession of firearms by illegal aliens.

Griffith voted against the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 which authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020.

Griffith voted against the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158), which effectively prohibits Immigration and Customs Enforcement from cooperating with the Department of Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of Unaccompanied Alien Children. The measure was approved by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 10, 2019.

Gay rights

While serving in the Virginia House of Delegates, Griffith supported a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage by defining marriage as between one man and one woman. He voted in favor of a motion to effectively kill a bill to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation for government employees in Virginia.

Environment

Upon taking office in 2011, Griffith supported significant funding cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Griffith suggested that "many scientists do not even believe" in anthropogenic climate change. In a congressional hearing on climate change, Griffith told scientists that they should consider the possibility that the Vikings and the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia were successful because of global warming. He further suggested that the melting of the ice caps on Mars disproved the theory that humans were responsible for climate change on Earth. Griffith introduced an amendment to a spending bill that would have prohibited EPA regulation of surface coal mining operations, and the EPA Regulatory Relief Act, which would have blocked federal regulations on boilers.

In 2017, Griffith voted to nullify the Stream Protection Rule, which included improvements in the protection of water supplies, water quality, streams, fish and other wildlife that can be negatively affected by surface coal mining. The same year, he joined other members of the House of Representatives in passing an amendment to H.R. 3354, which undermined the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to enforce environmental standards in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which covers six states and the District of Columbia.

Griffith is a proponent of "an 'all of the above' energy strategy" that utilizes both fossil fuel and renewable energy sources. In 2011, he joined other GOP members in urging Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reconsider the ban on offshore drilling off Virginia's coast.

Gun rights

Griffith voted in favor of several bills to reduce restrictions on gun ownership, including a bill to allow concealed weapons in vehicles without a permit and to allow concealed weapons permit holders to carry their firearms in restaurants and bars. He also voted to prohibit consumption of alcohol while in possession of a concealed weapon. In 2004 Griffith voted to prohibit carrying firearms or ammunition in non-secure areas of airport terminals, including baggage claim areas.

Health care

Early in 2010, Griffith voted in favor of a bill to prohibit any individual mandate to purchase health insurance. This law passed Virginia's legislature before the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was enacted, which Virginia has used to challenge the individual mandate in federal court. On July 17, 2013, Griffith was the lone GOP member of the House to vote against delaying the implementation of the individual mandate.

Just before the United States federal government shutdown of 2013, Griffith issued a press release in which he endorsed the final House version of Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014, which would have continued funding for federal government operations while delaying implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He voted against the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014, the Senate-proposed compromise that ended the shutdown without defunding the ACA.

Death penalty

Griffith has consistently voted for expansions of the death penalty to include eligibility for accomplices to a murder, as well as for those who murder a judge or a witness.

Abortion

When surveyed in 1999 on his political positions by Project Vote Smart, Griffith indicated that he supports legalized abortion in the first trimester and to save the life of the mother, while favoring the restriction of abortion through parental notification laws and prohibition of partial-birth abortion. His voting record has generally been consistent with that survey, voting in favor of restrictions such as parental-notification and parental-consent, restricting state funding of abortions, and requiring abortion clinics to meet the same licensing requirements as surgical centers. In 2006 Griffith voted to restrict state funding for fetal stem cell research.

In 2007 Griffith voted against a bill in the Virginia General Assembly, HB 2797, which stated "That life begins at the moment of fertilization and the right to enjoyment of life guaranteed by Article 1, § 1 of the Constitution of Virginia is vested in each born and preborn human being from the moment of fertilization".

Griffith's 2010 campaign website reported that Griffith has a "100% pro-life" voting record and an "A" rating from the Virginia Society for Human Life (VSHL). But VSHL's report on 2007 legislation in Virginia omits reference to HB 2797. Project Vote Smart indicated that Griffith declined to retake their survey in 2010.

Taxes and spending

Griffith supports raising the retirement age and reducing the number of American troops serving overseas as means of reducing the federal budget deficit. Most recently, he voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Medical marijuana

In 2014, Griffith introduced legislation to move marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II narcotic, which would effectively make the drug legal for medical purposes under federal law.

Israel-Palestine

Griffith voted to support Israel following the October 7 attacks.

Personal life

Griffith and his wife, the former Hilary Davis, have three children. He is an Episcopalian.

In 2014, Griffith founded the Congressional Friends of Wales Caucus in honor of his Welsh heritage.