Charles Joseph Scarborough (; born April 9, 1963) is an American television host and former politician who is the co-host of Morning Joe on MS NOW, alongside his wife Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist. He previously hosted Scarborough Country on the same network. A former member of the Republican Party, Scarborough represented Florida's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House from 1995 to 2001. 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.
Scarborough was born in Doraville, Georgia, 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 Joe agreed to represent Griffin until the murder suspect found adequate representation. Before removing himself from the case, Scarborough made several court appearances representing Griffin, 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. 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, known as the Republican Revolution, that allowed the Republicans to take the majority in the House for the first time in 40 years.
Scarborough was reelected with 72 percent of the vote in 1996. In 1998 and 2000, he faced only write-in candidates as opposition.
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. 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." 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 including banning family planning funding in US aid abroad; banning partial-birth abortions; and making it illegal to transport minors to get an abortion. He voted in favor of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, that made it a crime to harm a fetus during the commission of other crimes.
Scarborough sponsored a bill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations after a four-year transition and replace it with an international organization of democratic nations. He voted to make the Corporation for Public Broadcasting self-sufficient by eliminating federal funding. He also voted for the "Medicare Preservation act of 1995," which cut the projected growth of Medicare by $270 billion over ten years. Scarborough was one of few house Republicans to vote against efforts by Gingrich to cut Medicaid funding and the only Republican in the Florida delegation to vote against oil drilling royalty relief, which Scarborough blasted as "corporate welfare". He voted against the "Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996," which raised the minimum wage to $5.15 an hour. Scarborough had a conservative voting record on economic, social, and foreign policy issues but was seen as moderate on environmental issues and human rights causes, including supporting the closure of the School of the Americas and defending accused terrorist Lori Berenson. Scarborough also teamed up with civil rights leaders in a controversial effort to rename a historic Pensacola street after Martin Luther King, Jr. The Pensacola News Journal praised Scarborough’s leadership despite these efforts not being of political benefit to him.
While in Congress, Scarborough received several awards, including the "Friend of the Taxpayer Award" from Americans for Tax Reform; the "Guardian of Small Business Award" from the National Federation of Independent Business; the "Spirit of Enterprise Award" from the United States Chamber of Commerce; the "Taxpayer's Hero Award" from the Citizens Against Government Waste; and the "Guardian of Seniors' Rights Award" from the 60 Plus Association. In 1996, Scarborough spoke at the John Birch Society’s Council Dinner in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.
Scarborough was one of the 228 members of the House who voted to impeach Bill Clinton in December 1998.
104th Congress – Committee on Government Reform and Oversight – Committee on National Security (formerly Committee on Armed Services)
105th Congress – Committee on National Security – Committee on Government Reform and Oversight – Committee on Education and the Workforce
106th Congress – Committee on Armed Services – Committee on Government Reform – Committee on the Judiciary
107th Congress – Committee on Government Reform – Committee on the Judiciary
In May 2001, five months into his fourth term in Congress, Scarborough stated his intention to resign to spend more time with his children. Of his resignation, Scarborough said, "The realization has come home to me that they're at a critical stage of their lives and I would rather be judged at the end of my life as a father than as a congressman." A special election was held in October 2001 to replace Scarborough. Since then, Scarborough has contemplated returning to politics several times. In 2017, Scarborough left the Republican Party to become an independent.