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= Matt Flynn (politician) = Matthew J. Flynn (born October 3, 1947) is an American attorney and politician from Wisconsin. Flynn served as chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin from 1981 to 1985 and as a partner in the Milwaukee law firm of Quarles & Brady. Flynn is a Democratic candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in 2018.

Life and career
Flynn was born in 1947 in New York City and raised in Middlebush, New Jersey. He graduated from Yale College in 1969 and served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1969 until 1972. Flynn subsequently attended the University of Wisconsin Law School, where, in his capacity as editor-in-chief of the Wisconsin Law Review, he authored a proposal that sought to reform the Milwaukee Police Department by increasing its political independence and accountability to the community. Following his graduation, Flynn was a law clerk to Chief Judge Thomas Edward Fairchild of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1975 to 1976, when he entered private practice in Milwaukee with the firm Quarles & Brady. In 1978, Flynn was the Democratic nominee for United States Representative in the 9th congressional district, losing to Republican state Senator Jim Sensenbrenner. In 1980, he served as Milwaukee County chair for Ted Kennedy's presidential campaign.

In October 1981, Flynn was elected as state chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Flynn embraced a progressive platform as state chairman and advocated to maintain Wisconsin's open presidential primary, a stance that put him at odds with the Democratic National Committee. During Flynn's first term as chairman, the state party reelected Senator William Proxmire and reclaimed the governorship after a four-year period of Republican control. Additionally, Flynn imposed fiscal controls on party spending and mounted an aggressive fundraising campaign that eliminated debt accumulated by the party under his predecessors.

After completing his second term as state Democratic chairman, Flynn returned to Quarles & Brady, retiring in 2017 as a partner; during his career, he represented clients including the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee, Milwaukee-based corporation Johnson Controls, local TV station WISN-TV and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in civil litigation concerning the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis, although Flynn has nevertheless, in his personal capacity, supported expanding reporting requirements surrounding sex abuse and increasing the civil liability of clergy members accused of abuse. In 1986, Flynn contested the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat held by Republican Bob Kasten, placing second to former deputy attorney general Ed Garvey in the primary. In 1988 and 2004, he placed second in Democratic primaries for Wisconsin's 5th congressional district and its geographic successor, the 4th district. Flynn subsequently served as co-chair of John Kerry's presidential campaign in Wisconsin and on Hillary Clinton's national finance committee during the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries. Additionally, during the administration of Governor Jim Doyle, Flynn served as chair of the governor's Judicial Selection Commission. He has remained active in state and local politics, advocating for progressive causes and against the policies of Republican governor Scott Walker.

2018 gubernatorial campaign
Main article: Wisconsin gubernatorial election, 2018

In October 2017, Flynn announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination to oppose Walker in the 2018 gubernatorial election. In November, Flynn received attention for his proposal to legalize the use of cannabis in Wisconsin. As of December 2017, Flynn's campaign has received the endorsement of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, Milwaukee County Register of Deeds John La Fave, former Wisconsin Secretary of Administration Steve Bablitch, and former Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce Cory Nettles, among other prominent Wisconsin Democrats and civic leaders.