Born in Atlanta, Georgia, he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama and his law degree from the University of Florida. After practicing law at a major firm in Pensacola, Florida for four years, he was elected to Congress at the age of 32.
On July 10, 2001, the body of one of Scarborough's aides, Lori Klausutis, was found dead in the congressman's office in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The official cause of death was a heart failure, although her initial autopsy suggested severe fractures in the skull. The investigation was never pursued further, and Scarborough was never implicated in Klausutis' death.
Scarborough resigned shortly afterward for family reasons, and became a member of the President's Council on the 21st Century Workforce. He left that post in 2003 to work on television.
He is married and has two sons.