Matt Nye, organizer of the Brevard Tea Party and Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida, has filed for the Brevard County Commission District 4 seat currently occupied by incumbent Republican Mary Bolin.

“I’m very excited to announce my candidacy for Brevard County Commission District 4,” Nye said. “As our nation and Brevard County work through the worst economic downturn in 25 years I will serve the citizens of District 4 by reigning in spending and rooting out waste.”

Nye lives in Suntree and currently works for Verteks Consulting, Inc., a leading provider of voice and data networks. In addition to his experience in the information technology industry, he has a background in real estate finance and title insurance, having owned both a mortgage company and a title insurance company in recent years.

While a relative newcomer to politics in Brevard, Nye has made a dramatic impact in the short period of time he has been involved. He is currently appointed by District 3 Commissioner Trudie Infantini to the Brevard County Charter Review Commission.

"Up until the last two years, I was a typical, hard working American preoccupied with my own life and wanting nothing to do with politics," Nye said. "I did nothing but complain about the lying politicians and unelected bureaucrats that are destroying our country."

"The time for complaining is past; if we are to save this country - the greatest the world has ever known - we must all stand up and participate in the process, and that participation begins at home in our local city and county governments," Nye said.

Nye organized the first Tea Party here in Brevard back in April which drew an estimated crowd of 1,500. The Independence Day Tea Party on July 4th drew some 3,000 attendees. “Regardless of what the pundits say, what this tells me,” Nye said, “is that people are mad as hell at the waste and spending they see at all levels of government, and they aren’t going to take it anymore. That’s why I’m in this race – I’m sick of watching taxpayer wealth squandered.”

County spending, waste and transparency are hot buttons for Nye.

“The majority of the elected officials in our county have yet to come to grips with the fact the real estate bubble has burst, and we will be facing some very lean times in the coming years,” Nye said. “In spite of repeated warnings about the severity and depth of the recession, both our county and state officials continue to vote to burn reserves instead of cutting spending to necessary levels. The problem is you only get to spend your savings once.”

“We need leadership that understands you can’t spend what you don’t have, that government isn’t immune from economic downturns, and has the courage to make the cuts that will be necessary to keep the county from going bankrupt,” Nye said. “I will be one of those leaders.”