Hailing from Innisfail, Queensland, Gordon first entered politics as the Labor candidate in the federal seat of Leichhardt for the 2013 election, losing to Liberal National incumbent Warren Entsch.
In 2015, tip offs to the media led to Gordon publicly disclosing a criminal history dating back to the 1980s that he had not disclosed to his colleagues[3] including driving offences, break and entering offences, breach of bail and probation, and an apprehended violence order taken out by his mother.
Gordon's former de facto partner accused him of domestic violence[4] and routinely not filing tax returns to avoid child support payments to his five children.
[6] In September 2015, Queensland Police dropped the domestic violence charges against Gordon, citing insufficient evidence to prosecute.
[7] On the same day, police charged a woman with extortion for allegedly attempting to blackmail Gordon by claiming he had sent her an explicit image by SMS.