Gaetz’s father represented parts of northwest Florida as a member of the Florida State Senate from 2006 to 2016, and was Senate president from 2012 to 2014. Gaetz’s grandfather, Jerry Gaetz, was the mayor of Rugby, North Dakota, and a candidate for lieutenant governor of North Dakota at the 1964 North Dakota Republican Party state convention
McCarthy was born on January 26, 1965, in Bakersfield, California, the son of Roberta Darlene a homemaker, and Owen McCarthy, an assistant city fire chief.